


Like The Sun and Moon

by buzzoff



Category: Naruto
Genre: Art, Friends to Lovers, Highschool AU, M/M, Modern AU, Modern Setting, Summer, slow start, star talk
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-06
Updated: 2017-08-05
Packaged: 2018-10-28 14:36:55
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 25
Words: 30,491
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10833288
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/buzzoff/pseuds/buzzoff
Summary: A modern AU fic in which Sasuke is the new kid who moves to Naruto's mostly dull home town the 2nd semester of senior year. Naruto is dared to tell him a stupid pickup line and it starts from there.Completed!





	1. Chapter 1

Naruto Uzumaki had never been the nervous type. Not Naruto, never Naruto. We’re talking about the kid who yells the wrong answer at the top of his lungs and tells everyone his life dreams and moral alignment within three seconds of meeting them. We’re talking about the boy who challenged the entire soccer team to try and beat him because he wanted to be team captain and didn’t want to wait and work his way up the ranks. We’re talking about the boy who got a three day suspension for doing backflips in the chemistry lab... twice.   
Naruto was not nervous. Not anxious. Not timid. Not shy.   
Except for when he was.   
Like right now, for instance.

Shikamaru was usually pretty tame with dares, it was his truths you had to worry about, but not this time. This was at least a Kiba rank dare. Naruto needed to give Shikamaru more credit, this dare almost made him want to back out. Almost. Luckily, though, he was Naruto Uzumaki and never skipped a dare in his 17 years of life, so here he was. 

Here he was. 

In front of the quiet- no, silent new kid who only looked at you long enough to roll his eyes and then pretend either you or him didn’t exist. In front of this mysterious boy in the furthest left corner of the cafeteria with approximately 3 sets of his friends’ eyes watching him from the safety of their lunch table. This was absolutely not worth it, but Naruto would go through with it anyway, even if it landed him a black eye or a new person to avoid like the plague at all costs.

Naruto took in a short breath and cleared his throat, getting the unnamed boy’s attention. Soul suckingly black eyes latched onto Naruto’s, making him that much more anxious. He had to look away and cough before continuing. 

“Hey! I’m Naruto. You just moved here, right?” The blonde boy asked, forcing a smile. 

New kid said only “Yes.”, his voice smooth and coated in layers of apathy and midnight. 

“Awesome! Did you move here from Tennessee?” He asked, waiting a beat before saying “‘Cause you’re the only ten I see!” 

New kid fixed Naruto with an almost disappointed look, like he’d been expecting better despite not knowing Naruto at all. He sighed and shook his head. “No.” Naruto would’ve explained that telling him an embarrassing pick up line was a dare, but he swiftly added “Are you done here?” before Naruto could think of the right words. 

“Uh,” the Uzumaki shrugged and nodded a few times. “Yeah, I guess so.” 

“Awesome.” the unnamed boy said in a monotonous but mocking fashion, shaking his head as he turned his attention to a book that was open in his hands. 

Naruto took the hint and walked back to his table, surrounded by an aura of awkward and uncomfortable. 

As soon as he took his seat, his friends sprung simultaneous questions too quick to keep up with.  
“What’d he say?”  
“He didn’t punch you?!”  
“Are you going to eat that?” 

“No, he didn’t punch me.” Naruto answered, addressing Kiba with a glare. “But I really appreciate your concern for my safety, asshole.” Kiba shrugged and threw another piece of his packaged pancake into his backpack. “Maybe next time.” He remarked hopefully, making Naruto roll his eyes. 

“What’d he say?” Shikamaru asked again, leaning his hand on his palm to support his head.  
“Not much.” Naruto shrugged. “Just said no, he’s not from Tennessee, and then implied he wanted me to fuck off.”  
“Not as brutal as I thought.” Shika nodded to himself, obviously making a mental note. 

Naruto then tossed his own packaged pancake to Choji as a way of answering him. And then it was over. The friends launched back into regular conversation. 

There was no immediate, life changing alteration. No spinning ground, no fainting. As far as Naruto was concerned, that was the first and last time he’d ever speak to that kid for as long as he lives. 

And it almost was like that. 

Except then it wasn’t.


	2. Chapter 2

English 4 or absolute hell disguised in the likeness of cement walls and dingy tiles? You decide. 

Naruto would be more inclined to agree with the latter, seeing as he knew no one and was barely scraping by with a very low D. Passing is passing, though, so at least that. But, if nothing else, it was a shitty way to start your day. Naruto dreaded every moment between walking into that vaguely menacing room and rushing out when the bell rang. It was by far the worst part of his day, no contest.

Until it wasn’t. 

About a week after the pickup line incident, Naruto was rotting away in the previously mentioned classroom as the teacher droned on about semicolons or Shakespeare or something like that. Naruto wasn’t paying much attention, he was too preoccupied wondering about what he was going to eat when he got home, but he tuned in when the teacher started barking something about changing seats.  
“I’m tired of this! I thought you were all old enough to handle sitting with your friends, but evidently I was wrong.” She shook her head and yanked a piece of printer paper off of her desk, starting to scribble boxes and designated names.

“Okay, you, go over there by Hinata. Shino, move between Sakura and Ino. Lee, you can move back there by Sasuke. Neji, you’re fine, but Tenten, you move to that row.” She spoke at the same time she wrote, nodding to herself like teenagers wouldn’t just yell across the class to speak to their friends. 

“Can I move too?” A vaguely familiar voice spoke up from the back of the class. This voice’s request was accepted with a mumbled “Yeah, sure, move up there by Naruto.”

This caught Naruto’s attention. 

The Uzumaki tried to see who spoke but with all the commotion of everyone else switching seats it was kinda impossible, so Naruto stopped straining his neck and just waited for whoever the peer was to take their seat. 

Meanwhile, the teacher nodded as she looked at the classroom and put the seating chart into a nearby drawer. “Perfect. Okay, for the rest of the period you’re all to read the articles on page 23-34 and answer the essay questions in the back. No talking, not that talking should be that much of a problem now.” She shrugged, walking to her desk and launching herself into something on her desktop screen. 

Just as Naruto pulled a textbook from under his seat, his new desk mate sat beside him at the table. The blonde boy looked up and almost had to do a double take. Since when was mystery new kid in this class? 

“What, no pick up line this time?” The teen said dryly as he took his seat, also reaching for a textbook. He opened his book and started to thumb through pages.

Naruto cracked open his textbook and shrugged, thinking up a good one. “Is there a mirror in your pocket?”

“What?” He stopped flipping pages and looked up at Naruto with furrowed eyebrows. 

“I asked if there was a mirror in your pocket.” The new kid didn’t reply so Naruto continued. “Y’know… ‘cause I can see me in your pants? C’mon, everyone’s heard that one.” 

The black haired boy’s expression changed from confused to annoyed in two seconds. He sighed and shook his head, turning his attention back to the book. He seemed disappointed again. Naruto wasn’t sure why that bothered him.

Despite sitting next to each other every morning, Naruto and the new kid didn’t talk much aside from Naruto’s daily pick up line. Sometimes the new kid, who Naruto learned was named Sasuke about three days after he started sitting with him, would even play along. 

“My teddy bear is missing, can I-” Naruto started one day, only to be swiftly cut off by Sasuke saying into a stapler “Hello? The FBI? Yes, there’s a rabid bear kidnapper on the loose. Send all your men.”

Sometimes he’d derail it all together. 

“Hey, did it hurt when you fell-”  
“Yes. I am in constant agony. Every breath is a struggle. You’ll never understand.”

And sometimes, though very rarely the new kid would even laugh. Well, in all actuality it was more like a snicker, but he smirked for a while after the joke so Naruto took that as a subdued, specially Sasuke laugh. 

“One thing you and my big toe have in common is that I will probably end up banging you on every piece of furniture in my home.”  
Sasuke replied “Good one.” and a smirk. Naruto was over the moon about it for days. 

Neither of the boys realized when it happened, but they started to feel more comfortable and in tune with each other. The two started talking even when they didn’t have to. Naruto waved at Sasuke in the halls and just before he disappeared for the entire lunch period. If he didn’t have a pick up line ready for first period, he’d ask Kiba or Shikamaru for one (Kiba’s were always better, Shika’s kinda went over Naruto’s head.) Suddenly Ino and Sakura brought their slew of rumors involving Sasuke to Naruto for clarification. Before either of them knew it, they’d become close friends. Sasuke learned what to say to make Naruto spill whatever secret. Naruto figured out which of Sasuke’s seemingly apathetic greetings meant what. 

Neither of the boys realized when it happened, but suddenly, they were friends.


	3. Chapter 3

Naruto had always been the recruiter of his friend group. He was the one who approached Kiba and asked him to be friends on the first day of kindergarten. He was the one who invited Shikamaru and Choji to join the group two years later. Most recently, he’d been the one that convinced Sakura and Ino to start sitting with his group at lunch. So, naturally, that’s what everyone assumed he was doing with Sasuke. Recruiting. Nothing more, nothing less. 

So, naturally, that’s what Naruto started to do. 

“Where do you go during lunch?” Naruto prompted randomly one Friday after a test.   
Sasuke shrugged and folded his arms over his chest, furrowing his eyebrows. “Nowhere important, why?”  
“Why don’t you sit with your friends?”  
“I have no friends.”  
“Rude! I’m your friend!”  
“I have one friend.” He half-smiled at Naruto, showing the Uzumaki he didn’t mean what he’d said before.   
“So sit with me!”

And so he did. 

For all of 20 minutes. 

And then he stood and left without a word. 

“He has to get used to you guys.” Naruto explained, waving off Shikamaru’s raised eyebrow as he stood and followed Sasuke across the cafeteria, through a dark hallway, and out a door. Were they even allowed to be out here?

“Sasuke!” Naruto called, the other stopping in his tracks and turning to face Naruto as he caught up, at which point Sasuke started to walk again. 

“Why’d you leave?” Naruto asked after a few seconds, walking beside Sasuke further away from the school.

“Lunch rooms are loud and your friends are louder.” He shrugged and added “No offense.” afterwards.

“None taken, but I’m super loud, too.”

Sasuke shook his head and mumbled “That’s different.” 

“How?” the blond haired boy squinted, trying to see what Sas was thinking through his pale skin. 

“It just is.” Sasuke waved off the topic as he came to a complete stop. “Here we are.” He announced, gesturing to a patch of longish grass with a sprinkling of dandelions and lavender bulbs growing beside a metal shed. “Now you know my secret lair.” The Uchiha sat near the shed, safely out of the afternoon sun and cloaked in cool shadow. 

Naruto sat across from Sasuke, plopping himself down directly in the sunlit patch. It was warm and comforting now that the beams couldn’t try to stab his eyes out. 

“Are you going to have to kill me now or something?” The Uzumaki joked, starting to pick absentmindedly at some grass blades. 

“Yes.” Sasuke replied, picking a dandelion and throwing it at Naruto’s face. The flower landed in the absolute mess of blonde strands Naruto dared to call hair. The blonde wiped it away and stuck his tongue out at Sasuke. 

A few small birds flew lazily overhead, casting fleeting shadows in the grass and causing Naruto to look up. Sasuke was going to follow his gaze but his attention was caught by the picturesque image of Naruto’s face perfectly backlit by sunlight. There was something about the orange highlights and warm aura that so perfectly summed up Naruto. Sasuke admired the imagery for a few moments before Naruto looked back, causing Sasuke to drop his head and pick at some more flowers. 

Naruto threw a lavender bud at Sasuke, nailing him in the shoulder. 

Sasuke looked up to see a grinning Naruto, which made him half-smile as he reached for another dandelion and tossed it towards Naruto, the yellow puff bouncing off his nose. 

“Oh, it’s on!” Naruto exclaimed, grabbing handfuls of weeds and grass and whatever else he happened to scoop up. Sasuke noticed and quickly started to grab up some greenery.

Soon after they prepared their arsenals, they were having an all out flower war, complete with laughter and accidental hand touching. 

“Give up!” Sasuke shouted, launching another handful of stems and flowers. 

“Never!” Naruto laughed, throwing handful after handful of grass. Then he accidentally threw some grass into his own mouth while laughing, which only made him laugh more. At this point he was doubled over, not throwing anything since he was holding his stomach. 

Sasuke took this perfect opportunity to attack, scooping up all the discarded pieces, walked over to his immobile blond friend and dumped them. 

“I win.” The Uchiha stated simply, taking a few steps and returning to his original spot. 

Naruto soon regained his composure and started wiping lawn bits out of his hair and off of his clothes. “This time.” The boy pointed a glare in his friends direction complete with his warm grin. 

Sasuke grinned back, a few short snickers bubbling out of his mouth. 

The happy moment was ruined by the lunch bell ringing, not so gently ushering them into the next period.   
Naruto could’ve sworn he’d almost saw disappointment tucked away behind Sasuke’s eyes as he stood and said he’d see Naruto later, turning to walk away. Naruto caught up a few seconds later. 

“Why here?” He asked, looking up at Sasuke with furrowed eyebrows. 

“It’s nice to look at. I like the contrast between the shadows and the sunlit side.” He shrugs. “It’s like shadows right on the edge of lightness. Or like light right on the edge of darkness. Those dynamics are always interesting.”

Naruto didn’t get what he meant but nodded anyway.


	4. Chapter 4

_Weekend Interlude #1_

Saturdays are made for sleeping in and watching murder documentaries.

This Saturday, when the sunlight started to drift in through the blinds and fall in stripes across Sasuke’s body, the boy didn’t get up to close the blinds and instead allowed himself to be warmed up.

Saturdays are meant for staying up as long as you want and hanging out with your friends.

This Saturday, when Kiba passed out on the couch and Shika fell asleep on the floor next to Choji, Naruto decided to go for a walk to look at the stars and admire the moon, distant and lighting up the cold dark. 


	5. Chapter 5

In a few weeks Naruto and Sasuke had fallen into a routine that worked perfectly together and not at all separately. They found each other in crowded rooms and walked together in the halls. If Naruto wasn’t there, Sasuke would still find himself looking for him in the places he usually occupied, hating the empty space he found instead. If Sasuke missed a day, Naruto would get all sulky and feel off for the whole day, like his left foot had been replaced with his right and vice versa. The two had become each other's normal. 

Naruto’s favorite part of their routine was by far the spot they went to during lunch. The spot that had changed from Sasuke’s Spot to The Spot to accommodate for the extra human now occupying the space. Naruto loved The Spot because it was where Sasuke seemed the most open and did the most talking. Naruto could listen to him talk for hours, just letting the boy’s smooth, level voice flood his ears and drip through his veins. 

They talked about everything; their days, their nights, plans, new movies, old movies, anything, everything. If there was a lull in conversation Naruto would even start talking about what to talk about. 

Today, they were talking about the weekend and how it was close enough to taste and touch but still so unfairly far away.

“Oh, hey that reminds me,” Naruto started, a lightbulb going off over his head. “Are you doing anything this weekend?” 

Sasuke glanced up and saw that the blonde boy looked excited. Sasuke didn’t know whether to be curious or scared. “Is this a pick up line?” He asked, associating that overjoyed look with the one he always gets after telling a particularly bad line. 

Naruto laughed and shook his head, answering “No, Sasuke, I’m serious! Kiba’s having a bonfire, I wanted to invite you.” 

“Bonfire as in loud, drunk teenagers hanging out and making bad decisions around actual fire? Sounds like a genius idea.” The Uchiha replied sarcastically, already starting to count the idea out. 

“C’mon, Sas! It’ll be fun!” Naruto could see Sasuke was going to need more persuasion so he broke out the puppy eyes and said “Don’t tell me you’d rather stay home alone instead of enjoying a night of reckless teenage abandon with me, Naruto Uzumaki, your best friend in the whole wide world. 

Sasuke snorted and looked up, smirking slightly. “Since when am I Sas?” To someone who wasn’t Naruto, the boy’s voice would’ve implied that he was teasing, which he was, but Naruto knew it was nice teasing. Sasuke was touched and appreciated the sentiment. 

“I don’t even know which of your friends is Kiba.” Sasuke directed his gaze downward, picking at a few flowers.  
“You don’t have to! I can introduce you all at the party.”  
“Party?”  
“Bonfire.”  
“Same thing?”  
“No, one has fire.”  
“That’s still a horrible idea.”  
“Please?”

Sasuke looked up with a semi-shocked expression, like he never expected Naruto to ask for something politely. He and Naruto held each other’s eyes for a moment before Naruto started to slowly stick out his bottom lip. Sas scoffed and rolled his eyes.   
“You’re lucky you have the eyes of a devastated puppy.” He mumbled. 

“So you’re going?! Awesome! I’ll tell Kiba later. Thank you so much, Sasuke!” Naruto launched into a hug, unable to handle all the excitement. “You won’t regret it!”

Sasuke smiled to himself and patted Naruto’s back. “Alright, Naruto, calm down.”

Sas’ heart stuttered for a second when Naruto pulled back and beamed his lopsided, sunshine smile, softly illuminated blonde strands falling into his eyes. The Uchiha had to look away as to not be blinded. 

“How am I getting to the trainwreck, anyway? I don’t know where Kiba lives and don’t know this town well enough to find out.” 

“I can give you exact directions or pick you up.” Naruto shrugged, still grinning. “Whatever works for you!”

“I’ll take directions, I need to drive around here more. I’ll need your phone number, though. Or like, a walkie talkie serial number.”

The Uzumaki put his hand over his heart and gasped dramatically. “Sasuke Uchiha, are you coming onto me?!” He shook his head and snickered to himself. “Usually it’s me with the pick up lines.” He added, pulling his phone from his pocket and beginning to tap away at the screen. He handed his device over once it was on the contacts screen and happily accepted Sasuke’s from his outstretched hand. 

Sasuke typed his number in and saved it under “Sas”, deciding that he liked the nickname as he returned the phone to Naruto. 

Naruto saved his number under “THE GREATEST PERSON I KNOW” and starred the contact, grinning as he handed over the phone. 

The Uchiha read the name and rolled his eyes, shaking his head as he pocketed his phone. “You’re an idiot.” 

“You love it!” Naruto laughed, throwing his head back. 

“Yeah right.” 

He was right.


	6. Chapter 6

Unsurprisingly, time passed. The sun set and then it rose. 

 

Saturday, the day Naruto was beyond psyched for. Reckless teenage abandon, a fire pit, his friends, and most excitedly, Sasuke. These parties happened often, and they were always fun, but this one was going to be the best one yet. Naruto would make sure of it.

 

Saturday, the day Sasuke was dreading from the moment he agreed to go. Irresponsible minors, literal fire, strangers, and lastly, Naruto, who he’d never seen outside of school before. Sasuke had never been to a party before- he’d never wanted to be. He was much more happy at home, drawing in his sketchbook or watching a crime documentary. He only hoped Naruto wouldn’t notice how incredibly awkward he actually was around new people. When all is said and done, though, Sas knew he’d get through this. He’d make sure of it.

 

As part of making sure he’d get through the night, Sasuke started getting ready. He didn’t really know what people wore to parties so he just went off what he’d seen in movies and TV shows. The teen laid out his maroon hoodie and dark navy blue jeans, two of the existing five items of clothing he owned that had actual color on them. Then the Uchiha took his anxiety medication in the bathroom sink, disrobed, and showered. He didn’t remember if he washed his hair the day before or not so he washed it just in case he hadn’t. After 30 minutes of washing and about 20 minutes of staring into space, Sasuke was done.

 

He got dressed, did his strange, half-spiked hair, and received a text from “THE GREATEST PERSON I KNOW”. 

 

**_THE GR…:_ ** _ hey when can I come pick you up _

**_Me:_ ** _ It’s only seven. _

**_THE GR…:_ ** _ time isnt real _

**_THE GR…:_ ** _ plus I wanna get slushies from the 7/11 by kibas  _

**_THE GR…:_ ** _ with you  _

**_THE GR…:_ ** _ pls _

**_Me:_ ** _ You’re paying.  _

**_THE GR…:_ ** _ so thats a yes??  _

**_Me:_ ** _ I guess so.  _

**_THE GR…:_ ** _ AWESOME!!!! _

 

Sasuke shared his location and decided to go do some random house chores to keep himself occupied, though he didn’t have to do this for very long considering Naruto was at his door in a solid 10 minutes. 

 

“Finally! I’ve been waiting out here for like 3 whole minutes!” Naruto exclaimed in his good natured but kind of annoying way. The blonde boy laughed a little and smiled a lopsided smile up at Sasuke, who momentarily thought of kissing him. Damn intrusive and not at all genuine thoughts. 

“Yeah, yeah, whatever.” Sasuke rolled his eyes and stepped out to join Naruto on the porch, locking his door before being led to the car he assumed was Naruto’s. 

 

The boys made it to 7/11 in one piece, though Naruto’s driving skills, or lack thereof, had Sasuke worried for a moment. 

 

Sasuke filled his cup with cherry slush, watching syrupy sweet crushed ice pile on top of itself in aesthetically pleasing coils of frozen goodness. 

 

Naruto went down the line and squirted a bit of each flavor into his cup, laughing when Sasuke called him a monster for it. 

 

“Why would you ever voluntarily put that in your mouth?” The Uchiha asked after Naruto paid and were on their way back to the car they’d arrived in. 

 

The blonde boy shrugged, grinning to himself as he shut his eyes and took an extra long sip. “It’s good!” He defended as they boarded his vehicle. “You’re just judgemental and don’t like trying new things.”

 

“There’s a difference between not doing something because it’s different and not doing something just because you know it’s a bad idea.” Sasuke shrugged, taking a small sip of his cherry slushie. 

 

“Try it.” 

 

“No way in hell.” 

 

“But it’s the  _ best ever _ ! It even has cherry in it!” Naruto said, bumping Sasuke’s shoulder. “You’ll love it! Please?” he begged, sticking out his bottom lip. 

 

The Uchiha glanced over and rolled his eyes, huffing as he took the cup from Naruto as he silently cursed how easily this boy could bend his will. Sasuke questioningly examined the brownish-red liquid that filled the cup, sloshing it around a few times before squeezing his eyes shut and just taking the plunge, sucking in a mouthful of super sweet, kinda fizzy, tropical-ish liquid that had strong underlyings of lemonade. It was an absolute wreck of everything imaginable but shockingly not as bad as Sasuke thought it would be. 

 

When Sas gave back the cup without a complaint, Naruto grinned and taunted “Told ya so!” as he pulled out of the parking lot, now on the way to Kiba’s. 

 

In a few short minutes, the two arrived at the party/bonfire/Sasuke’s worst nightmare. You could hear the music and miscellaneous screams from the front yard. Sasuke could only imagine how loud it’d be on the inside. 

By the time they reached the front door, Sasuke was visibly tense and anxious. Naruto noticed and grabbed his friend’s hand lightly in his own for reassurance. 

 

“Hey,” Naruto spoke, rasp dulling as his voice became less aggressive. “It’s okay, Sas. It’s only 8ish, we don’t have to go in right away. We have all night.” He aimed a crooked grin at his nervous friend and squeezed his hand lightly. 

 

Sasuke squeezed back a few moments later as he nodded. “Maybe we should walk around for awhile.” he suggested, hoping that getting to know his surroundings would make him feel better. Naruto agreed to this so the two boys carefully avoided the bonfire crowd in the backyard and made their way against the tree line, stopping at a small cove-like indention that was far enough from the noise to let Sas calm himself down a little. 

 

The two sat in the crisp, dark blue night by each other’s sides, hands pressed into the other’s as they both looked up and admired the stars. Naruto couldn’t help but notice that Sasuke outshone them all by a long shot. 

 

“I’m sorry.” The Uchiha spoke up, his silky midnight voice amplified by how softly he was speaking. “I know you were looking forward to this party.” He sounded sad or disappointed or both. Naruto picked up on the subtle change in tone that implied Sas was blaming himself for something he couldn't help.

 

Naruto furrowed his eyebrows at his friend and gently squeezed his hand. “You kidding me? Parties happen all the time.” He shrugged, turning his attention back to the stars. "You're what I was looking forward to."

 

Sasuke didn’t say anything else, cool wind replacing words as it breezed by. The raven-haired boy faintly sighed after a moment and leaned his head on Naruto’s shoulder, tracing soft circles into the Uzumaki’s hand with the pad of his thumb absentmindedly. 

 

Naruto leaned his head against the top of Sasuke’s and dropped the other's hand, pulling him into a warm side hug instead. He slid his hands up and down Sas' hoodie, trying to warm him up as much as possible.

 

They stayed like that for a while, huddled up and isolated under the millions and millions of stars, softly whispering nothing in particular to each other using the language of pats and snuggling up against a tacky, orange windbreaker. Even under the vast amount of nothingness, they felt safe together; like time couldn’t see their forehead touches or their intertwined fingers, laced together and shaky. As far as they were concerned, they were in their own private universe. Infinite and together.


	7. Chapter 7

After a few minutes of silence and thoughts in each other’s arms, Naruto decided that Sas wasn’t going to feel any better if they just sat out in the cold air all quiet, so he nuzzled up and called “Saaaaasukeeeee.” from the crook of the other boy’s neck.

“Yes?” Sas mumbled back, sounding down but also like a spark of curiosity had caught.

“Saaaaaaaaassukeeeeeee.” Naruto called in the same sing-song voice, moving his head from side to side so blonde strands would tickle the Uchiha’s neck.

“Whaaaaaat?” Sasuke answered, copying Naruto’s tone. The blonde haired boy could hear the slightest hint of a smile in the boy’s voice. Success.

“What do you call a fake spaghetti noodle?” Naruto asked, pulling back and beaming up at Sasuke who promptly rolled his eyes. 

“Do I even want to know?” He asked, smirking in the slightest, though that was mostly because of Naruto’s sunshine smile. The Uchiha sighed and mumbled “Okay, what do you call it?” 

“An impasta!” The boy all but screamed, beaming. Sasuke groaned and shook his head, reaching up to pinch the bridge of his nose. 

“That was terrible.” 

“You loved it!” 

Sasuke dropped his hand and looked to Naruto, his infectious happiness spreading grins at an alarming rate. The Uchiha admired how even in the dark, Naruto radiated a light so bright and warm it could melt all of Antarctica in a second. Sasuke felt lucky to be in it’s presence so often, revelling in it’s soft comfort. 

Black eyes scanned skin until they found bright blue patches of late July sky, clear and remarkable. The two sat in silence that was different than the other silence, a happy silence, contently admiring each other with smiles plastered on their faces. Sasuke dropped his eyes lower on Naruto’s face, noticing what looked to be three faded scratches on either of the Uzumaki’s cheeks. Were those new? How had he never seen those before? 

Sasuke furrowned his eyebrows and lifted his hand gently to the marks adorning Naruto’s left cheek, ghosting his fingertips across the lines. Sas looked up, meeting the eyes that had already been watching him. “When did you get these?” He asked, looking back to the marks. They looked old and faded but they couldn’t have been there before, y’know? Sasuke would’ve noticed, wouldn’t he?

“A little after birth.” Naruto said, shrugging nonchalantly. “Fox.” 

The Uchiha’s expression changed to one of wide eyed shock as his eyes flung back up to Naruto’s. “What?” He asked, trying to see if his friend was just making something up as a joke. “Are you serious?” 

Naruto nodded. “Yep! Same fox that killed both my parents.” He explained. Sasuke’s breath caught in his throat. How could he talk so casually about all of this? “I should’ve died but by some random miracle I didn’t.” 

“I’m sorry for bringing it up.” Sasuke said, immediately taking his hands away from the scars. “I’m sorry it happened, too.” He added, feeling like a real jackass. 

“Don’t be, it’s not your fault. It’s not really that bad, I was a baby when it happened. Plus, I have a foster parent.” The blonde haired boy took Sas’ hands and intertwined them with his own. “I thought you’d seen them before.”

Sas shook his head. “I didn’t. Though, I’ve also never been this close to your face before so that’s probably why.” The boy thought about sharing his own traumatic history with Naruto since he knew he’d understand. The Uchiha didn’t have to think about it for very long. “Orphan club, now up a member.” 

Naruto tilted his head. “You too?” 

Sasuke nodded and tried to copy Naruto’s earlier nonchalance. “House fire. You know how it goes.” Naruto didn’t ‘know how it goes’ but didn’t say so. 

“Who do you live with now?” 

“Legally? An old family ‘friend’. Reality? Myself.” 

The Uzumaki looked like he was upset. No, that wasn’t supposed to happen! Sasuke just wanted to talk about both of their pasts since they had something in common. “Sorry, let’s change the subject.” He suggested, squeezing Naruto’s hands in his own. 

The usually sunshine-y boy looked dimmed. He dropped his friend’s hands and pulled him into a tight hug, holding them together for a while. Sasuke hugged him back, resting his chin on Naruto’s shoulder. 

After a few minutes, Naruto still wasn’t saying anything, which was super uncharacteristic for him. Sasuke wondered why he got so down so quickly. It’s not like talking about his own parents made him sad, no, it seemed that talking about Mr. and Mrs.Uchiha was what upset him. Sasuke didn’t understand. He didn’t have to, he just knew he wanted Naruto to be happy again, so he whispered ‘Narutoooo.” like his friend had called his own name just earlier, hoping to derail and change the subject, maybe making Naruto laugh while he was at it.

The blonde boy shifted to smile up at Sasuke, though it wasn’t his normal, happy smile. Somehow it was a sad smile. “You’re gonna tell me a joke?” 

Sasuke nodded. “If I can think of one.” He started to scrape his head, scanning and searching for a joke that he hadn’t learned from Naruto. “Okay, how about this: What kind of overalls does Mario wear?” 

Naruto’s smile started to peek through, his eyes lighting up. This was one of his favorite jokes. “What kind?” 

“Denim denim denim.” Sasuke answered, smiling a little at his own pun.

Naruto laughed and beamed up at Sas, bumping him with his shoulder. Sasuke bumped him back. They went back and forth like this, smiling and laughing and bumping each other, sparks hitting and bouncing into the air like mini fireworks. 

Suddenly, Sasuke was standing. “I think I’m ready for whatever they have over there.” Naruto stood too, taking the Uchiha’s hand in his own as he asked if he was sure. Sasuke confirmed that he was and so they were on their way, through the night as their usual selves, both trying to temporarily forget about the dead parent talk. It was mostly successful.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you don't get Sasuke's joke, say it out loud.


	8. Chapter 8

The boys found themselves in Kiba’s backyard, far enough to where the light just barely reached them. They could turn around and leave and no one would know. Sasuke thought about it. 

 

“You’re sure you’re ready?” Naruto asked, looking up to his friend with a lopsided grin. Sasuke thinks about kissing him for the second time and decides once again that it’s just because he’s pretty and mentally pinches himself for it. Bad Sasuke, how dare you have feelings. 

 

The Uchiha nodded at the question, turning to look at the dozen or so people who were gathered around a pit of fire. “With you, I’m ready for anything.” He said before thinking about the possible connotations. God, what was up with him today? Something about this hyperactive blondie made him want to regularly spill his guts, to be transparent, and that was simply not Sasuke.

 

Thankfully, Naruto didn’t seem to read much into it and just smiled wider before starting to lead Sas closer to the congregation of teenagers. It looked a lot less like a satanic ritualistic cult the closer you got. Sasuke was even able to spot some faces he’d seen around at school before, though he didn’t know their names. Naruto, however did know their names. 

 

Their names were these: Kiba, Shikamaru, Shikamaru’s long distance, on again off again girlfriend Temari, Choji, Sakura, Ino, Sai, Rock Lee, and the two Hyuuga cousins, both of which looked like they wanted to go home. 

 

Naruto waved with the hand that wasn’t holding Sasuke’s as he walked up, greeting everyone with a smile. “Hey guys! Sorry we’re so late, I wanted slushies.” He explained, walking over and taking a seat by Kiba. Sasuke followed and sat beside him. “This is Sasuke, by the way. Sa-” 

 

“We know, Naruto, he’s all you ever talk about.” Ino interjected, waving off the rest of Naruto’s sentence. “We’re sorry you have to deal with him so often. He’s kinda like a baby puppy, if he likes you he follows you for forever.” She added, turning to Sasuke. She was obviously just teasing Naruto, so Sas smirked and went along with it. 

 

“So you’re saying this isn’t where I drop him off? Damn.” He said, making almost everyone in the circle laugh, excluding Neji and Naruto. “Joking, of course.” He added when he saw the Uzumaki was scowling at him. Sasuke bumped his friend’s shoulder and squeezed his hand lightly. In a few moments he squeezed his hand back. 

 

“You guys are mean, I was just trying to introduce everyone.” Naruto defended himself, reaching for the cooler nestled in between his seat and Kiba’s. He got a cherry coke and handed it to Sasuke, getting a Dr. Pepper for himself. 

 

“You still can.” Temari spoke up from a few seats away, over to the left by Shikamaru. “Just because we know who he is doesn’t mean he knows us.” 

 

“Wait, how do _ you  _ know him?” Naruto asked, furrowing his eyebrows in her direction. “You don’t even live here and you definitely don’t go to our high school.” 

 

The girl shrugged and smirked a little deviously. “Word gets around.” She said simply. 

 

“Wow, yes, thank you so much for that brilliant explanation, Temari.” Naruto said sarcastically, opening his can and taking a sip. “Not vague at all.”

 

This only made Temari’s smug smirk turn into a smug grin, which made Naruto scoff before turning his attention to Sasuke. 

 

“Alright, Sas, thi-” 

 

“Sas?” Kiba immediately interjected. “He gets one of your nicknames but I still haven’t?!” 

 

“You can’t shorten Kiba! I’ve said this a thousand times!” Naruto basically yelled, dropping Sasuke’s hand to gesture, palms facing the sky and fingertips pointed at Kiba. 

 

“Yeah, yeah, whatever.” The boy shook his head, taking a sip of his unidentified liquid from a solo cup. “Go on.” 

 

“Thank you. Now, Sasuke, that’s Kiba. He’s a closeted furry.” 

 

“Not this  _ AGAIN!” _ Kiba interrupted. “I’m not a fucking furry, I just like dogs.” He said defensively. “Don’t believe a word he says, Sasuke, he’s an idiot.”

 

Naruto shrugged and grinned a bit. “Kinda. Anyway, then that’s Temari with the pigtails and Shikamaru with the ponytail. They’re together.” He explained. “Also, if we play truth or dare later, which we probably will, don’t pick truth with either of them. Bad idea.” 

 

Shikamaru half-waved and Temari did the finger wiggle wave up by her face. 

 

“Then there’s Choji, you’ve seen him around, probably. He sits at our table at lunch.” Choji waved

 

“That’s Hinata, then there’s Lee from English and Neji who probably doesn’t wanna be here.” Neji didn’t disagree and Lee waved full force, excited and smiling. What a nice guy. Hinata nodded in the Sasuke’s general direction and stared at the ground.

 

“Then there’s Ino, Sai, and Sakura. They’re all terrible people, don’t talk to any of them.” He joked, mostly just to get back at Ino for earlier. 

 

“Don’t tell him that!” Sakura protested, fixing her friend with a glare. 

 

“Yes, let him find out on his own how terrible Sakura is.” Sai smiled though the punch delivered to his shoulder. Naruto laughed, but only for a moment as he didn’t wanna get himself punched. 

 

“There we go, that’s everyone. Everyone, this is Sasuke.” Sasuke waved halfheartedly and within a second, the group was on another topic. Everyone wanted to play truth or dare, and so they did. 

 

No one really pulled anything too terrible on Sasuke since he was still new, but they definitely did not hold back on Naruto. It seemed like every other dare was directed at the Uzumaki, who was apparently the self proclaimed “King of Dares.” Shikamaru was, respectively, the “King of Truths”, dubbed thee by Naruto himself years back. Sasuke understood why, though. He had the most complex and prying truths, like he planned every syllable and tone to imply just what he needed to to get get whoever to spill. The Uchiha followed Naruto’s advice and never chose a Shikamaru or Temari, who wasn’t as concise but just as manipulative, truth. 

 

After a while of watching Naruto embarrass himself over and over, Sasuke started to feel a little more comfortable. He started to laugh when he thought something was funny instead of just barely smiling and inserted his own jokes in there sometimes. He might’ve actually, dare I say,  _ enjoyed _ it. A night full of Naruto’s infectious laughter, radiating smile, and sweet glances every once in a while to make sure Sasuke was still having fun. It was nowhere near as horrible as Sasuke thought it would be. Not even close. 

 

“Okay, Sasuke, truth or dare?” Naruto asked after being made to trade his orange windbreaker and t-shirt with Sai’s black crop top. 

 

“Dare.” 

 

“I dare you to let me wear your hoodie. It’s too cold to wear this bullshit.” 

 

And so Naruto ended up surrounded by soft and warm Sasuke smelling fabric and Sasuke in his own grey thermal. Sasuke would’ve complained about the cold but the sight of a happy Naruto nuzzling into his hoodie warmed him enough to not need it. 

 

A few dares and a couple truths later, everyone was pretty tired. Shika had already fallen asleep three times on Temari’s shoulder and Lee started to go on a rant about his bedtime and the adequate amount of sleep each person should get each night for optimal success. Neji took Lee and Hinata home and Sai left after tossing Naruto his jacket. Choji fell asleep in his seat and no one bothered to wake him yet.

 

The conversation lulled to only a few whispers between Sakura and Ino. The playlist inside was over a long time ago and had conveniently switched to slow, vaguely romantic songs. Naruto would’ve given Kiba shit over it, but he was much too tired to care. The blonde boy cuddled up and leaned his head on Sas’ shoulder, closing his eyes and sighing. Sasuke smiled to himself and cuddled up, wrapping his arms around the shorter boy and holding him close, leaning his head on the other’s. He softly nuzzled Naruto’s hair, making the Uzumaki look up and break out a beautiful setting sun of a smile, all colorful and breathtaking. Sasuke decided that, if anything, Naruto was the sun itself, remarkably bright and warm, making life want to live and thrive on otherwise cold and dead planets. He thought about kissing him for the third time in one day and didn’t. Naruto closed his eyes and hugged Sasuke lightly. 

 

“You two are so cute.” Shikamaru mumbled as he walked by, ruffling Sasuke’s hair. He and Temari were presumably going home. Sasuke felt he and Naruto should probably do the same, so he whispered Naruto’s name to get his attention. 

 

“Another joke?” Naruto asked with a smile plastered on his lips. 

 

“No, well, I mean, if you want, sure, but more importantly: we should probably leave.” The boy explained, making Naruto huff a little and detach himself from Sasuke, sitting up to stretch. He looked around and noticed almost everyone had left and that Sakura and Ino were getting up to leave too. Naruto stood and waved to Kiba, mumbling a goodbye before walking away. Sasuke stood and caught up with him, catching his hand and gently guiding him to the direction of where he parked a few hours ago. When they got to the car, Sakura was pulling out with Ino fast asleep in the passenger side. She waved and Sasuke waved back as Naruto fiddled with the keys. 

 

“Maybe I should drive.” Sasuke suggested, noticing how much difficulty Naruto was having just with finding which key was the right one. Naruto nodded in agreement and handed over they keys, walking to the passenger side. Sas unlocked the doors and boarded, Naruto following suit. The boys buckled up and Sasuke pulled out of Kiba’s driveway. 

 

“Where do you live?” Sasuke asked, pulling up a gps app on his phone. 

 

“With Iruka.” 

 

“What? No, Naruto, the street name. Your address.” 

 

Naruto nodded and looked out the window, saying nothing else. 

 

“...Naruto?” 

 

“Yes?”

 

“You didn’t answer.” 

 

“I didn’t pick truth!” 

 

Sasuke huffed and shook his head. “Truth or dare?” 

 

“Dare!” 

 

“I dare you to tell me where you live.” 

 

“I live with Iruka.” 

 

Realizing he probably wasn’t going to get any answers out of Naruto in this state, Sas just shook his head and suggested Naruto just spending the night with him. Naruto said it’d be suuuuuuuper fun and he’d love to. 

 

“Call Iruka and make sure it’s okay.”

 

Naruto nodded and did, clicking a few buttons before groggily speaking into the phone. “Hey! Yeah, I’m okay. Can I stay over at Sasuke’s?” 

 

“A friend.” He answered after a beat of silence.

 

“No.” 

 

“Don’t know.” 

 

“Awesome! Thanks, ‘Ruka, see you tomorrow.” and with that he hung up. “He said yes as long as I thought it was a good idea and we were safe.” 

 

Sasuke nodded and ignored the implied connotations, starting on the ride home. He rolled down his window to keep himself awake and put on the radio softly enough to where it wouldn’t disturb Naruto if he did end up falling asleep. Some slow song Sas didn’t know drifted through the car and crawled hazily out the window, leaving to be among the stars. The sound of Naruto quietly snoring joined it soon after. At a stop light, Sas turned to his passenger who was now cloaked in red due to the light. He looked so peaceful and beautiful. Since zero people were out on the roads and he was stopped anyway, Sasuke pulled out his phone and took a picture of the sleeping angel, saving it and deciding he’d show Naruto in the morning. He also set Naruto's contact name to the sun emoji before pocketing his phone.

 

A bit later, Sas parked in front of his house and cut the radio off, rolling up his window. “Naruto,” he called gently, placing a hand on his shoulder and barely rocking him. “We’re here.” 

 

Naruto opened his eyes slowly and sat up, unbuckling his seatbelt and walking around to Sasuke’s side, following the Uchiha inside. “Where am I sleeping?” He asked, the raspy qualities of his voice amplified tenfold by his exhaustion. 

 

The Uchiha thought for a moment and decided Naruto could sleep in his room and Sasuke could take the couch in the living room, so he pointed in that direction and set he and Naruto’s keyrings on the counter and rid himself of his shoes. 

 

When Sasuke got to his room, Naruto was already in bed, his shoes, Sasuke’s hoodie, and Sai’s crop top all strewn haphazardly across the floor. Sasuke reached to grab a pillow from his bed, hand being seized by Naruto’s. 

 

“Where are you going?” He asked, tilting his head as he furrowed his eyebrows. 

 

“Just the living room, don’t worry.” Sasuke reassured. 

 

“Staaaaaaay.” Naruto called, tugging Sasuke’s arm towards him. 

 

Sas’ hand that wasn’t being pulled went to the back of his neck, scratching as he just kinda stood there awkwardly. He was probably making a bigger deal out of this than necessary, but what if Naruto woke up and thought Sasuke manipulated him into sleeping in the same bed? It also didn’t help that Naruto was half naked, either. “Uh, that doesn’t really sound like a good-” 

“Saaasukeeee,” Naruto protested, sliding his hand from Sas’ wrist to match their hands together. “Please? You’re warm I want to hold you.” 

  
The Uchiha sighed and gave in a little, mumbling “Fine. But only if you put a shirt on.” to which Naruto responded to by sitting up and happily putting his hands in the air. Sasuke rolled his eyes and pulled a random t-shirt from his closet given that the hoodie might be too hot and Sai’s shirt was barely a shirt at all. Naruto took it and pulled it on backwards, immediately sinking into the covers afterwards and patting the space beside him. Sasuke reluctantly climbed in and clicked off his lamp. Naruto cuddled up like he said he would, laying his head on Sasuke’s chest and wrapping his arms around the other’s torso. Sasuke gently laid his arms at Naruto’s shoulders in a loose hug and kissed the crown of the blonde’s head, drifting to sleep before he realized what he’d done.


	9. Chapter 9

_ Dream Interlude _

 

Naruto dreamed of the world in all different shades of purple. Even he was purple. It was as if this was normal. The boy went about regular activities, such as getting out of his purple bed to brush violet toothpaste into his lilac teeth. As he walked down a sidewalk he’d never seen before, he stopped to pick violets, running his hands over each petal softly. Suddenly, it started to rain technicolor blobs, coating the sidewalk and everything else in sticky, thick colors. Naruto raised his hands up in victory and laughed silently as the colors melted him to the ground, violet petals remaining in the puddle that remained. He felt happy. 

  
Sasuke dreamed of going home, or at least he thought so, anyway. He thought was right on track until he realized he had no idea where he was going. First, he decided to continue walking, deciding that he’d get wherever he needed to. Second, he started running. Then he was sprinting. He felt like he was being chased by something or someone who wanted to hurt him. He stopped running when he appeared kneeling at the foot of a bed he’s never seen before. He felt confused, looking around to realize he was now in a bedroom with deep red walls and darker red curtains that were drawn. Sasuke turned his attention back to the bed, furrowing his eyebrows as he leaned closer to inspect the comforter that was pulled neatly across the mattress. The Uchiha realized the comforter was rough and unpleasant upon running his hand across the fabric. He stood and took the comforter off, discarding it and revealing a perfectly square block of liquid water sitting atop the box spring. He felt relieved. 


	10. Chapter 10

Sasuke woke up to a stirring mop of blonde drooling on his chest. Lovely. 

 

Sunlight drifted through and colored the room in a pastel yellow, not bright enough to be an annoyance yet. It painted stripes across the bed sheets and Naruto’s peaceful face. The boy was snoring. Of course he was.

 

Sas tried to stretch without waking the other, shifting only in small increments as he tried to get comfortable. He should also probably check his phone for the time. The boy raised one hand to rub his eye, trying to banish some of the sleep away. He mumbled something about regretting staying up so late and sighed, letting his eyes drift over to Naruto. He gazed for a little longer than socially acceptable, enamored with the hairs in his face and his slightly parted lips. Even when his face was half squished and probably covered in drool on one side, he still managed to be as adorable as ever. Sasuke thought about kissing his forehead and snapped out of it before it could linger, getting a little irritated with himself at this point.

 

The boy sighed and set his eyes on the ceiling, dragging a hand down his face as he scolded himself internally. He needed to have a long talk with himself about this, but he’d put it off until later. He was much too tired for that at this hour. 

 

Naruto shifted in his sleep, moving slightly as the sun streaming in caressed his cheek. Sasuke sighed to himself and shifted his gaze, black eyes falling on the Uzumaki’s face with a smile. Sas let one of his hands find the soft pile of pale yellow mess, lacing his fingers through a few locks and played with them absentmindedly. After a few moments of this, Naruto hummed contently and shifted. Sasuke assumed this was him waking up and accordingly retracted his hand as fast as possible. 

 

The Uzumaki looked up, lazily opening one sleep clouded eye towards Sasuke. “Why’d you stop?” He asked innocently. Sasuke chose not to answer and looked away, slightly pink. 

 

Naruto sighed and nuzzled back up to Sas. “You’re a lot cuter when you think I’m sleeping.” The boy mumbled, a devious smirk flowering over his lips. Sasuke scoffed and pulled a strand of Naruto’s hair in response, making the boy yelp. “Hey! That hurt!” He complained, hitting Sasuke’s chest. “You’re so mean.” The blondie kicked Sasuke’s leg. The Uchiha kicked back. Naruto tried to shove him off the bed and suddenly they’re play fighting, going back and forth with blows as Naruto’s cackling in the background serenaded them both. 

 

It stopped being about wrestling and started to be more a game of “how much of my very physically attractive friend can I possibly touch in this ever convenient situation?” The answer was a lot. Sliding palms up a chest in guise of a push, resting hands on the back of a head “just in case I headbutted you too hard”. Neither boy complained. 

 

The Uzumaki tried to tickle Sasuke so he got pinned down, wrists pushed into the pillow above his crooked halo. He grinned up at Sasuke and Sasuke grinned back at him, all still panting with hairs stuck to their faces. Naruto intertwined their hands, thinking about maybe reaching up and pecking Sasuke’s cheek. That could be played off as platonic, right? 

 

Unfortunately, he didn’t get the chance to find out. Sasuke flipped over and kept one of their hands held. He was no longer red from the physical exertion. He thought about how dangerous this all is and how he needs to be more careful as he climbed out of bed, mumbling something about a shower. They had gotten way too close. Sasuke was internally terrified.

 

The boy left behind reveled in the soft sheets a moment longer before padding out of the room as well, hoping to find something to eat. He found himself in the kitchen within the span of a minute, rummaging up a half dozen carton of eggs and some orange juice. He set to work immediately, starting to get the hang of it by the third burned egg-tempt. Ha. 

 

Naruto was then interrupted by an unidentified old man walking in through the front door like he owned the place. “Sa-” was all he got out before closing the door behind him and seeing a short, blonde boy wearing his sorta-not-legally-related-but-kind-of-nephew-I-guess’ t-shirt... backwards. Looking disheveled and sleepy as ever. He drew all the conclusions he needed to. 

 

“Hi there.” The man furrowed his eyebrows and looked at Naruto with a slightly bored expression. “I’m guessing you’re Sasuke’s….” he trailed off, hoping the boy would fill in the rest. 

 

“Naruto!” He provided. The old man didn’t seem to be much of a threat considering he knew Sasuke’s name and had a key, so Naruto went back to making scrambled eggs. “Who are you?” He asked. 

 

“Kakashi.” He took a seat at the nearest stool, taking a novel out from under his arm and cracking it open on the bar. 

 

Naruto nodded and took a guess from the people he’d heard Sasuke talk about. Come to think of it, there was only one. Well, only one living one. Sasuke had to know more people than that. They’d talk about it later. “The family friend who checks up on Sas?” 

 

Kakashi confirmed this with a slight hum of affirmation, flipping a page. “So, do you have a last name, Sasuke’s Naruto?” 

 

“Uzumaki.” He answered proudly, sliding some eggs onto a plate. “Want any?” he offered. Kakashi accepted, putting his book away and observing Naruto divide the eggs onto three separate plates. Kakashi stood and poured three glasses of OJ, setting them at the bar as Naruto set down the plates. They sat and ate in content silence, the only noise being Sasuke’s shower a few rooms over and forks hitting plates. 

 

Eventually, Sasuke’s shower water stopped. The Uchiha left the bathroom and made his way to his bedroom, drying off and pulling on a t-shirt and sweatpants. He tousled his hair a few times in his towel before discarding it in his hamper on the way out of his room. 

 

“Naruto?” He called across the house. 

 

Naruto stifled a laugh as he answered. “In the kitchen!” What did he do this time?

Sas made his way to the kitchen, stopping to cock his head in confusion as he saw what looked to be Kakashi huddled up over something with Naruto, who was snickering like no tomorrow. Sasuke cleared his throat, making both people turn around. Kakashi waved with a bit of smugness behind his eyes, Naruto smiled and greeted him by saying, “Sasuke! You were such a cute kid!” Which made Sas’ eyes go wide and accusingly jump to Kakashi, who just shrugged. 

 

“It came up.” Said his guardian, not specifying how or when. “Anyway, I’ve met your Naruto. He’s a joy, if not a little obnoxious.” 

 

Naruto looked up with an incredulous expression and exclaimed “Hey! I made you breakfast!” Kakashi nodded and said he enjoyed it and thanked Naruto very much. Naruto was back to his normal happy state. 

 

Sasuke scoffed, taking the seat by Kakashi. “Thank you for breakfast, Naruto.” The Uchiha said before taking a forkful of eggs into his mouth. “So, why are you here?” He asked, the question directed at Kakashi. 

 

“I was around.” 

 

“You’re always around. You live down the street.” 

 

Kakashi considered this for a moment and nodded. “I guess you’re right. I don’t know why I decided to pop in, though I’m glad I did.” He nodded his head at Naruto who was checking his phone, raising his eyebrows at Sasuke in an invisible inquiry. 

 

The teen rolled his eyes and mouthed “Friend.” 

 

Kakahi mouthed back “Your shirt.” 

 

“Needed it.”

 

“Slept here.” 

 

“Needed to.” 

 

Kakashi still wasn’t convinced, but he decided not to push the silent conversation any further, ending it with a shrug. “Well, I should probably go. I have a job to get to.” He said, stepping off the barstool and putting his empty dishes in the sink. “Pleasure meeting you, Naruto. I’m sure I’ll see you in the future. Later, Sasuke.” And with that, he was gone. Door locked behind him and car out of the yard. 

 

“He’s nice.” Naruto spoke up, clicking his phone off and setting it aside. 

 

“When he wants to be.” Sasuke agreed, taking a sip of his orange juice. “He just doesn’t know you well enough to annoy you yet.” The boy concluded, thinking of what he implied earlier. Kakashi believed Naruto and Sasuke were partners. That was ridiculous. It’s not like he’d decided in the shower to make an exception to his no bond rule just for the shining Uzumaki or that he’d thought about kissing him more often than he thought about not kissing him. It’s not like Naruto was definitely going to keep the shirt Sasuke lent him just to keep a piece of him around or that he’d already made a playlist to listen to when he missed the raven haired boy. 

  
Naruto smiled over at Sas and said “Yeah, you’re probably right, that’s the way most adults are.”, a soft orange glow radiating from his sickly sweet smile, saved in this moment especially for Sasuke. He felt special, like he himself had been illuminated by association, glowing simply from being in Naruto’s presence. Sasuke briefly wondered if anyone else saw Naruto this way and immediately hoped that he was the only one. Any normal person would surely be blinded by the light.


	11. Chapter 11

Sunday came and went as Sundays do. Suddenly, it’s Thursday. Tomorrow is Friday. End of the month. For Naruto, that meant going to the theatre with Iruka and seeing whatever movie had the coolest commercial. Well, that’s what it usually meant, anyway. Not this time. Iruka hardly ever bailed or cancelled plans, but he had an important conference out of town that he couldn’t get out of. Iruka suggested he take “That boy who always stays on the front porch to pick you up instead of coming inside.” Naruto thought he might. 

 

“So, Sasuke, I’m learning about important dates in history,” Naruto started, taking his seat beside the Uchiha a few minutes before the bell was set to ring. 

 

“You don’t take history.” 

 

“No, look, you can’t hijack this one.” The Uzumaki insisted, bumping his shoulder against Sas who nodded with a slight suspicious look. 

 

“Okay, so, I’m learning about important dates in history,” He repeated. “Wanna be one of them?” The blondie grinned.

 

“That was even worse than usual.” Sasuke groaned, burying his face in his hands for dramatic effect. 

 

Naruto laughed and nodded, defending himself by saying “Yeah, I know, but I couldn’t find any other way to ask you out Friday, so I went w-”

 

The raven haired boy took his face from his hands, whipping around to stare at Naruto with wide eyes. “ _ What? _ ” 

 

“Not like _ ask you out _ ask you out!” The Uzumaki quickly defended. “I was just asking if you want to go somewhere! With me.” This went a lot smoother in his head. “The movies is where.” He added. “I usually go with Iruka, but he has some super important meeting. 

 

Sasuke softened a little, his expression regaining its regular mostly apathetic but vaguely touched look. Naruto picked him out of all his other friends. He tried not to overthink the significance. The Uchiha looked over and shrugged. “Sure.” 

 

Naruto beamed and launched into a discussion about what movies were playing and what time he should pick Sasuke up and what the weather was supposed to be like and anything else he could think of. The class bell rang. Naruto didn’t seem to care, continuing the discussion through the entire class period and when the next class bell rang. When Sasuke and he usually parted ways, he just continued walking and rambling away about the movie he and Iruka saw last time. 

 

“So then this red guy pops up outta nowhere and just takes out the blue guy with ease!” 

 

“Naruto.” 

 

“I think that might actually be yellow guy in a suit, though, because he doesn’t show up for the rest of the movie. Anyway,” 

 

“Naruto.” 

 

“So then there’s this gigantic explosion an-” 

 

“ _ Naruto _ !” Sasuke repeated, this time emphasized by a flick to the shoulder. The blonde boy stopped talking. Thank god. “You’re going to be late for class.” 

 

The Uzumaki looked around, the lightest pastel pink color flowering over his cheeks. “Uh, right, I,” His hand flew to the back of his neck. “I was just walking you to class! I meant to come this way.” He lied. Sasuke laughed. 

 

“Sure you did.” The taller boy stopped in front of a door. Naruto peered around his head to see the room tag was labeled art. “Anyway, we’re here.” 

 

“I didn’t know you take art.” Naruto tilted his head slightly, considering the things he still didn’t know about Sasuke. And then the warning bell rang. The blood drained from the boy’s face. Naruto quickly patted Sasuke on the shoulder and sharply turned around, half jogging half waving as he looked over his shoulder to yell “Fuck ‘em up, Picasso! Draw me something pretty!” and with those astoundingly poetic words, he broke into a sprint and disappeared. Sas never laughed so hard before. 

 

At lunch, the boys found themselves at their spot as they always did, both in inexplicably good moods. Sasuke had his sketchbook on his lap instead of in his backpack. He slid a piece of copying paper from the front and handed it to Naruto, who took it carefully in his hands and stared at it. It was something he drew in the last five minutes of class upon the dozenth time replaying what Naruto said to him. 

 

“This is the best thing I have ever seen in my entire life. I wish I knew art words to describe this with. I love it.” 

 

Sas furrowed his eyebrows and looked from the drawing to Naruto. “It’s a circle.” 

 

“It’s  _ beautiful. _ ” 

 

Naruto pinned it to his wall as soon as he was home for no other reason but to be constantly reminded that Sasuke made something especially for him. It made him happy.

 

He said it was for ironic purposes when Sasuke asked, though, like any sane person would. You can’t just go around telling your best friend that the thought of them makes you feel warm and special. What is this, a fanfic? Yeah right. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so this chapter is short and filler-y but I had to write it in order for the rest of the things to happen. Thank you guys so much for your sweet comments, they make me happy. I promise you'll get an actual chapter soon! Thanks for sticking with this fic!


	12. Chapter 12

Sasuke arrived home on Friday with a subtle pep in his step. He didn’t have to drag himself out of that infamous 3pm slump and found himself humming in the shower. He was, in the privacy of his own home, very excited. Naruto would be there in an hour. He couldn’t wait. 

 

Naruto matched the sentiment exactly, grinning more than usual when he crafted a text to Sasuke. They still hadn’t picked out which movie they wanted to see and Naruto needed to ask if Sas had the English notes he talked through on Thursday. Naruto also still needed to get ready, so maybe he’d just call and go about his business with Sasuke on speaker phone. The Uzumaki decided this was a good idea and deleted the words in his text, opening the phone app and calling his friend. 

 

Sasuke picked up on the third ring, debating picking it up at all in the first place. There was nothing the Uchiha disliked more than phone calls, but he decided it must be important if Naruto didn’t just text him. “Hello?” He sounded a little more on edge than usual. “Everything okay?” 

 

“Yeah, everything’s great! I’m super excited!” Naruto answered, setting the call to speaker and placing it on his nightstand. He walked to his mirror and started to put strands into place. “Thought anymore about what movie we’re seeing?” 

 

The Uchiha let out a sigh of relief and collapsed into his bed. “No. Have you?” He sounded more at ease. 

Naruto shrugged and answered “Not really.” 

 

“Think we’re going to figure it out before we get there?” 

 

Naruto snickered. “Not really.” 

 

Sas smiled lightly to himself, rolling his eyes. “Why don’t we just watch whatever’s playing when we get there?” 

 

“What if it’s a cheesy rom com?” 

 

“Too bad, I guess.” The Uchiha shrugged. “Anyway, I have to get ready,” 

 

“No you don’t.” Naruto said just to keep him on the phone for a second more. He liked how normal and domestic it felt. 

 

“I do.” 

 

“Insert obvious marriage joke here.” 

 

Sasuke laughed and shook his head. “I can’t believe you’d call our marriage a joke.” He said with mock offense. 

 

Naruto beamed at absolutely no one. “I would never, my beautiful wife Sasuke.” 

 

“Same to you, my beautiful wife Naruto. Now I really do have to go. Text me when you’re on your way.” 

 

“Alright, see ya later!” He said in an overly happy tone to mask his underlying disappointment. Sasuke hung up and Naruto sent him a screenshot seconds later, showing that he’d changed Sas’ contact name to “MY BEAUTIFUL WIFE SASUKE” Sasuke just shook his head and continued getting ready, smiling to himself for no particular reason.

 

About thirty minutes later, there was a knock at Sasuke’s door. The Uchiha thought this very strange considering Kakashi was out on a business trip, Naruto wasn’t supposed to be there yet, and he didn’t know anyone else who knew where he lived. He moved cautiously to the door, furrowed eyebrows forming above his eyes as he peered through the small hole drilled into the wood. He opened the door a second later, looking at Naruto with a questioning look. “You’re early.” He stated, not sounding particularly upset or pleased with the occurrence. 

 

“Yeah, I know, but an hour is a _ really l _ ong time to wait and I wanted to come by and bother you.” The Uzumaki shrugged. “I can come back later if you want me to leave, though.” 

 

“No, no, you’re fine.” The Uchiha stepped out of the way and ushered Naruto in, shutting the door behind him. The only thing he had left to do was find his shoes and then he’d be ready, so he set himself to that task, ignoring Naruto who was following him around and blabbering about some English assignment he missed. 

 

“I think I heard her say something about a quiz. It that happening Mon- hey, is that you?” Naruto asked, picking a framed picture and observing it. “It so is! Look how adorable you were!” 

 

Sasuke rolled his eyes and walked to where Naruto was standing, looking to the family portrait that was taken when he was still a toddler. The Uchiha smiled fondly and tapped the littlest Uchiha in the picture. “That’s me.” He said. 

 

Naruto nodded. “You never told me you had a cousin.” He said, setting the picture back on the counter. 

 

“That’s because I don’t.” He shrugged, finally finding his shoes. He scooped them up and sat on the nearest chair, pulling his sneakers on. “I did have a brother, though, which is who you were probably talking about.” 

 

The Uzumaki looked back to the picture and studied the older boy’s face a little closer. They did resemble each other a little closer than cousins, he observed. “Never told me you had one of those, either.” Naruto pointed out. He looked back to Sas and wondered for the thousandth time about what he didn’t know.

 

“There’s not much to tell.” Sasuke sighed and got up from his chair. He pocketed his phone. “His name was Itachi. He’s legally dead.” It wasn’t hard for Sasuke to say anymore, he’d made amends with the whole situation years ago. He didn’t really want to talk about it at the moment. He’d rather focus on the night ahead of him. “Ready to go?”

 

Naruto blinked at how casually the Uchiha switched topics from dead brothers to the movie date. He wanted to press further but knew not to, opting to instead nod and follow Sasuke out of the door. The boys climbed into Naruto’s car and were on their way, the Uzumaki singing loudly and off key to whatever song came on and Sasuke laughing so hard his stomach hurt. The atmosphere was filled with bright static and goosebumps, cloudy happiness and subtle nerves. The initial excitement reinstated itself. This was going to be fun. 

 

Coincidentally, the movie playing when the boys arrived _ was _ a cheesy rom com. Naruto insisted they watch it solely for ironic purposes. Sasuke just went with it. They both knew it didn’t really matter what they watched, it was the point that they’d watch it together. 

 

Naruto bought the tickets and two soda cups. Sasuke filled his with regular coke since they didn’t have cherry and groaned when Naruto made another mixture of everything they had to offer. He shook his head when Naruto slurped the vaguely brown liquid with a smile. The Uzumaki laughed at his friend’s disgusted face and looped his arm in with Sas’, walking to where their movie was set to play. They took seats on the left side, Sasuke next to the wall and Naruto beside him. The lights dimmed. The movie started. Naruto couldn’t follow the plot so he decided to let his eyes drift up to Sasuke, who was leaning on his hand but otherwise seemed to be halfheartedly interested. Naruto admired how the light reflected from his face and made him glow like some deep sea monster fish or a star surrounded by 3am darkness. He liked the single freckle on Sasuke’s jaw and the strand of hair that turned up at the end by his cheek. He liked his pitch pupils that scanned the screen and reflected the screen in a miniature but still decently clear manner. He liked his eyelashes and dark hair. He liked his little smirk sprung on by some joke in the movie. Naruto found the smirk on his own face, too, for whatever reason. 

 

A text came through, effectively taking Naruto’s attention. Thankfully his volume was all the way down so the only indication was the light blinking blue in the little notification indicator. Naruto curiously clicked on the device and read the lockscreen notification that told him “shhhhhhhika” messaged him the word “Staring.” This caused the Uzumaki to look up and around, eyes meeting with his friend’s from a few rows away. He was with Temari, probably on some forced date night. Shikamaru mouthed the word adorable and Naruto rolled his eyes, glad the dimness of the room effectively hid the pastel pink qualities smeared onto his face. Shikamaru leaned over and whispered something to his girlfriend, who immediately looked over and smirked. She mouthed the word adorable and made a heart with her hands. Naruto thought briefly about how the two were so insufferably in sync and then shook his head, turning back to the movie and pretending to watch it. They probably thought he and Sasuke were together. Naruto couldn’t decide if that bothered him or not. 

 

Sasuke leaned his head on Naruto’s shoulder, looking up with his dark eyes and then back to the movie. Naruto leaned against the top of Sas’ head and grinned a little as the hairs tickled his face. He decided it wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world if Shika and Temari thought they were together. 

 

The movie ended. Someone ran into the other’s arms. Naruto guessed that was a good ending, as Sasuke smiled and most everyone else in the theater clapped. The lights rose slowly to a medium yellow glow and it was time to leave. The boys found themselves walking especially slow through the parking lot, it was just starting to get a little chilly and the sky was colored with various shades of orange and pink. At some point Sasuke reached for Naruto’s hand. At some point they decided to sit in Naruto’s car instead of going anywhere. They were surrounded by comfy, clouded silence. Sasuke found himself smiling. Naruto found himself smiling back. The Uzumaki rolled down the windows and drove around slowly, taking the longest way possible to Sasuke’s. They ended up laughing for no reason and talking about their favorite weather conditions. It was nice. Comfortable. Happy in a quiet way. 

  
Unfortunately, Naruto did eventually get to the Uchiha’s house. He walked him to the doorstep and thought about kissing him before deciding that if he did it could possibly taint their perfect time together, so he just gave him a hug that lingered for too long and left the feeling of ghost arms around him as he walked back to his car and drove home. Both boys fell asleep smiling.


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so this chapter is late, short, and filler-y but I hope you enjoy it regardless. Sorry for the absence, I was busy with finals, but now I should have more time to write. Expect more chapters soon!

School ended like it always did, with a bell and a collective sigh. Today started the countdown; one week until graduation. Naruto couldn’t wait! That’s what he kept telling himself, anyway, though the more he thought about it, the more he felt like lying down in his floor and staring at the ceiling for an inexcusable amount of time. He’d been doing a lot of that lately, but mostly in Sasuke’s floor. Sometimes Sas would join him, other times he’d kick the blonde’s shoulder and tell him it was late and Iruka called six times already. As appealing as ceiling staring was and always will be, though, this afternoon Naruto managed to stay upright when Sasuke led him inside and to the kitchen. The Uchiha leaned against the counter and checked his phone, dark eyes scanning across the screen like they were hunting. Naruto lifted himself to the opposite counter and traced the backsplash tiles with his index finger. He gave the floor a longing stare. Soon, my love, soon. 

 

Naruto’s gaze was ripped from the floor by a sudden movement. 

 

Sasuke was that sudden movement. He stood, eyes wide, palms empty, foot just beside his phone. He looked to Naruto in what looked to be astonishment. He actually, get this,  _ smiled. _ No, full on  _ grinned _ . 

 

“What? What is it?” Naruto asked, tilting his head as he did so. “I’m guessing it’s good news?” 

 

“No,” Sasuke shook his head. “Great news!” He exclaimed, hands flying out. “I can’t believe this, Naruto, this is,” He couldn’t find the right words. “Great! Better than great! The greatest!” 

 

The raven haired boy’s infectious smile spread to Naruto, who promptly slid off the counter and practically jumped over to his friend. “What is it? C’mon, tell me, I wanna be excited too.” 

 

“They accepted my work! Naruto, they accepted it!” The Uchiha said, hands now moving to either side of his own face. “They liked it. Naruto, this is-”

 

“Great?”

 

“Yes!” Sasuke gestured widely with his hands and then squeezed them around himself. “My art is actually going to be in a showcasing. Is this even real?” The boy considered himself for a moment and then turned to Naruto. “Pinch me.” 

 

The Uzumaki rolled his eyes, smile intact. “No.” He said, shaking his head. “But don’t worry, you’re not dreaming. Besides, even if you were I wouldn’t pinch you. This is the happiest I’ve ever seen you!” Naruto stepped a little closer and wrapped his arms around Sasuke, pressing his forehead to the taller boy’s collarbone. “I’m so proud of you.” He admitted, smiling so hard it kinda hurt his cheeks. Sasuke hugged Naruto back and mumbled an enthusiastic thanks in the blonde mop of hair. A few moments later, they collectively separated with identical smiles. 

 

“I have to call Kakashi.” Sasuke proclaimed, bending down and scooping up his device. He dialed and pressed his phone to his ear. “Hey, guess what.” 

 

Sasuke furrowed his eyebrows. “No.” He then rolled his eyes. “ _ No _ . You know what? Don’t guess. I’ll tell you.” The Uchiha sighed. “I entered one of my series into this competition and I got accepted. They’re displaying my work.” He purposely made himself sound less excited than when he first got the news. Naruto prided himself on having the privilege of getting to see the unedited version. “Yeah. Maybe, I haven’t asked, one second,” Sasuke pulled the phone away from his ear and turned to Naruto. “Do you want to come see it?”

“Do you want me to?” He asked, already mentally agreeing to go.

 

“Of course I want you to.” Sasuke furrowed his eyebrows. “I wouldn’t invite you if I didn’t want you to go.” Naruto beamed and mouthed an affirmation, causing Sas to smile a little as he resumed his phone call. “Yeah, he’s going.” Kakashi replied with “Is he your boyfriend yet?” loud enough for Naruto could faintly hear. Sasuke rolled his eyes, glancing to a seemingly inconspicuous Naruto. “Stop.” Sasuke mumbled into the receiver. Kakashi went back to his normal talking voice so Naruto didn’t hear what made Sasuke pull the phone away and hang up. He seemed irritated or flustered or both. 

 

“What was that?” 

 

“Kakashi being Kakashi.” Sasuke waved it off. His phone buzzed in his hand, he typed out a quick response and pocketed the device. “Anyway,” He derailed. “It’s Friday, a few cities away. I think it’s at seven. “ Sas pulled his phone and rechecked the email.  “Yeah, seven.” He nodded. “Kakashi is probably going to want to drive us so just be here around 6:30.” 

 

Naruto nodded. “Gotcha.” He beamed. “I’ll tell Iruka when I get home.” Sasuke nodded. Naruto nodded back. They stood in silence for a second. The Uzumaki briefly thought about teasing about what Kakashi said earlier but decided against it. “So what did they accept, anyway? Something I’ve seen?” 

 

Sasuke furrowed his eyebrows, physically zoning out as he mentally roamed what information he had of the event. “Actually, I have no idea.” The boy realized, checking his phone yet again. “It’s a three panel set I did a while ago.” Sas clicked a link in the email and examined the information, trying to recall what exactly he named which pieces. “Oh, okay, it’s the solar eclipse one, I think.” Sasuke thought for a moment longer and nodded to himself. “Yeah, it’s the solar eclipse one.” 

 

Naruto nodded and Sas put away his phone. “Anyway,” The Uchiha started, pretty much stopping there, too. 

 

“Wanna lay in the floor and think about how scary the future is?” Naruto proposed after a beat of silence. 

 

“Sure.” 

 

The two sank to the floor and laid there, the cold tile nice and refreshing in the quickly approaching summer heat. Sasuke thought about Friday. Naruto thought about next year. 

 

“Think we’re still going to be close in ten years?” 

 

Sasuke looked over, meeting the gaze of pellucid blue. The Uchiha turned on his side to face Naruto. Naruto did the same. 

 

“Of course we’ll still be close.” Sasuke assured, nodding to himself. He didn’t want to think about the possibilities of them  _ not _ being this close. The two were practically inseparable. Everyone knew that. “We’ll probably be even closer than we are now.” The boy pointed out. Naruto nodded and held out his pinky, prompting Sasuke to clasp his own with his. The Uchiha did just that, wondering aloud “Why is it a pinky promise? What makes the pinky a trustworthy finger?” 

 

Naruto thought about this for a moment and held out his middle and index fingers together. Sasuke clasped his in the bend and held them there as the two eventually shifted back to their backs and gazed towards the ceiling yet again. Sasuke thought about summer as a few strips of sunlight made their way in through the slits in the blinds. Naruto did, too.


	14. Chapter 14

The ride to the museum wasn’t all that thrilling. Just as Sasuke predicted, Kakashi did insist on driving together and took the driver's seat before anyone could protest. Naruto and Sasuke slid into the back with Sasuke at the window and Naruto in the middle. No one really said anything, for their own reasons, and were mostly left to themselves aside from the occasional situational pun or punch bug sighting. There was supposedly a graduation party happening on Saturday that Naruto wanted to go to, so Sasuke had this half hour to think about going or staying home. Kakashi thought about the soothing bubble bath he’d be taking after this whole thing was over with. Naruto mostly thought about how even though it was technically summer, it didn’t feel like it. The blonde wanted to express this outloud but decided not to, deciding to instead send a text to the boy right beside him. 

 

**Me** : it doesn’t feel like summer

**MY BEAUTI…** : … 

**MY BEAUTI…** : Naruto Uzumaki 

**MY BEAUTI…** : Why are you texting me this 

**MY BEAUTI…** : You are literally two inches away from me

**Me** : didn’t wanna talk 

**Me** : besides you’re texting back 

**MY BEAUTI…** : Fair point

**Me** : yeah sure anyway 

**Me** : summer 

**Me** : doesn’t feel right 

**Me** : what’s up with that

**MY BEAUTI…:** Don’t know 

**MY BEAUTI…** : Maybe it has something to do with the fact that our adulthood is quickly approaching and we’re too scared to be excited?

**Me** : maybe 

**Me** : I don’t want it to though like this is our last break before “the real world” it should be fun

**MY BEAUTI…** : Make it fun 

**Me** : how 

**MY BEAUTI…** : No idea 

**MY BEAUTI…** : You’ll figure it out, though. You’re Naruto. Somehow everything you do is fun.

 

The Uzumaki smiled at the message and bumped his friend on the shoulder. Sasuke bumped him back and returned a signature Sasuke not-smile.

 

**MY BEAUTI…:** How about we dedicate our last real summer to worrying too much about whether or not we’re having enough fun?

**Me** : that’s a horrible idea 

**Me** : we should dedicate it to having the most fun possible 

**Me** : we can make like a list of things we wanna do before it’s over

**MY BEAUTI…** : Like a bucket list except only our youth is dying

**Me** : sas this is supposed to be fun stop getting your existential emo angst all over it

**MY BEAUTI…** : Nart this is supposed to be reality stop getting your positive idealistic tendencies all over it

**Me** : NART 

**Me** : HOLY SHIT 

**Me** : OKAY YOU’RE NOT ALLOWED TO CALL ME NARUTO ANYMORE 

**Me** : ONLY NART 

 

Sasuke held his phone so Naruto could see his contact name being switched to “Nart.” The Uzumaki almost laughed but instead just smiled and turned a little bit pink. 

 

**Me** : you had my number saved as the sun emoji 

**Me** : I saw it when you changed it you can’t deny it

**Me** : you’re so cute 

 

Sasuke rolled his eyes and flicked Naruto hard on the shoulder mostly to distract from his steadily building blush. It didn’t help much, Naruto still saw and beamed. 

 

**Me** : AWWWWWWW 

**Me** : that’s so heart warming sas

 

He was flicked again, harder. “I think we’re here.” The Uchiha pointed out, greatful for an effortless subject change. Naruto turned his attention to the window as Kakashi pulled gracefully into a parking space. The Uzumaki shrugged and pocketed his phone, dropping the subject. For now. 

 

All three males exited the car and made their way to the entrance, Kakashi walking slightly ahead as Naruto purposely lagged behind, dragging Sasuke along in the slow pace. 

 

“Are you excited?” The blonde asked, looking up with a smirk. 

 

Sasuke shrugged and looked to the sky, admiring the deep blue color. I would be dark soon. “Of course.” 

 

Naruto smiled and switched his attention back to the path in front of him. “Good.” 

 

Once they were in the museum, Kakashi all but disappeared. Naruto suggested going to look for him but Sasuke knew he wasn’t in any trouble. This was Kakashi, afterall, so the two teens wandered around aimlessly, half trying to find Sas’ painting and half just enjoying the experience. When a taller man bumped into Naruto, the blonde instinctively reached for the Uchiha’s hand. Neither decided to drop it as time went by. It was nice. Comfortable. 

 

At around forty five minutes in, Naruto spotted a painting in a far corner that caught his eye. He could tell it was some sort of space scene by all of the galactic colors. He noticed second that it was a three piece installment. The Uzumaki slowly led Sasuke to said corner, stopping to look at pieces along the way to make it less obvious. Once they were close enough to see the paintings, Naruto quickly read the title and artist. “ Nisshoku, Issho Ni” by none other than Sasuke Uchiha. Naruto beamed. 

 

“Look! Sas!” Naruto pulled the taller boy away from the artwork he had been looking and at towards the paintings. The first painting was one of the sun, complete with solar winds and bright stars. The second depicted a cloudy solar eclipse and the third was a darker, cooler toned image of the moon. Naruto stared in awe at the shading and light, admiring how realistic and pretty the set was. No wonder they decided to hang this one up. 

 

“It’s almost better than the circle.” Naruto joked, looking up with a big smile. Sasuke rolled his eyes and smirked, trying to sidestep away to the next piece on the wall. Naruto held his hand there and wouldn’t budge, eyes fixed on the paintings. “You’re really good.” 

 

“He is.” Kakashi agreed from behind the two, making both jump. The grey haired man laughed lightly to himself before wiping a fake tear away from his eye for dramatic effect. “Never gets old.” He remarked. 

 

Sasuke shook his head and turned around to face Kakashi, dropping Naruto’s hand while he did so. This didn’t stop Kakashi from mouthing “Still not your boyfriend?” with a self assured smirk, though. Sasuke chose not to respond to that and instead brought up where Kakashi had gone. 

 

“Oh, you know, just around.” He shrugged. “Wanted to give you two your space.” Kakashi aimed a quick look towards Sasuke and continued with “But I think it’s about time we leave now. It’s been an hour and I’m sure Naruto’s guardian won’t be happy if he’s late.” 

 

Naruto was going to say something about Iruka not minding as long as he checked in to assure that he was safe, but he decided not to as he wanted to leave, too. As the three walked out, Sasuke grabbed a pamphlet as a memento and decided he’d hang it on his wall. 

 

“Alright,” Kakashi strapped on his seat belt and cut the car on, red lights of the console softly illuminating the darkness inside the car. “An hour back and then we’re done.” 

 

Naruto almost groaned. An _ hour  _ back. Great. A few minutes down the road, Naruto turned to Sasuke and proposed a game of I Spy, to which to Uchiha just blinked at. 

 

“It’s dark out, Naruto. The only thing you’re going to see is darkness.” He pointed out. 

 

“Okay, yeah, that’s fair.” The Uzumaki thought for a second longer. “Truth or dare?” 

 

“With only two people?” 

 

“It’s possible.” Naruto shrugged. “Or we could rope Kakashi int-.” 

 

“No roping Kakashi into anything.” A tired voice piped up from the front seat. “I’m driving.” 

 

“Okay.” Sasuke shrugged, slouching further into his seat. “Two man truth or dare then, I guess. You start.” 

 

“Truth or dare?” 

 

“Dare.” 

 

Naruto thought for a moment. “Yeah, okay, this was a bad idea. There aren’t really any good car dares.” The blonde sighed and leaned his head on Sas’ shoulder. “Scrap the idea for later.” 

A yawn escaped the Uzumaki’s mouth and he cuddled further into Sasuke’s shoulder. “Let’s just sleep until we get home.” Sasuke silently agreed, nodding as he shifted to lean more into his Naruto, leaning a head of messy black spikes on top of almost angelic blonde tufts. He knew Kakashi would probably bring this up later but Naruto’s soft hair and gentle hug made it really hard to care, so he didn’t. Instead, the Uchiha just drifted to sleep in warm, welcoming arms, thinking halfheartedly about how if he could stay there forever, he would.

 


	15. Chapter 15

“Sas,” Naruto whispered, gently shoving the sleeping body next to him. “Sasuke, c’mon, wake up, man, I gotta tell you something!” He pleaded, practically vibrating with excitement. The Uchiha slowly started to stir to life, raising slitted eyes Naruto’s face. He registered high levels of happiness and talkativeness in the shorter boy’s face and accepted that he wasn’t going back to sleep anytime soon. With a sigh, the boy lifted himself to a sitting position and leaned his head against the wall behind him. He glanced to the digital clock by his TV and huffed in annoyance immediately after. 

 

“It’s three A.M., Naruto.” He stated, irritation evident in his voice. 

 

Naruto’s heart thumped out of place at the sleepy mention of his name for whatever reason and then returned to normal pace. Naruto gave a lopsided smile to the sleepy boy and shrugged. “It’s important!” 

 

Sasuke rolled his eyes and reached for a pillow, holding it close to his chest before mumbling an “Alright. Spill.” 

 

“I was thinking about the bucket list thing you said earlier. I already thought of some pretty good ones.” The Uzumaki reported, inexplicably hyper at this ungodly hour. A few strands of moonlight snaked through the cracked blinds and softly illuminated Naruto’s face, making his eyes reflect a brighter blue. Sasuke thought about kissing him just as he had a thousand times before. 

 

“That’s great, Naruto.” The Uchiha said flatly, sighing as he ran a hand through his bangs, sweeping them off his face. “Write them down. We done here?” 

 

The blonde scowled and softly kicked his friend’s leg. “No! We have to decide on them _ together, _ Sasuke. It’s  _ our _ list.  _ Our  _ summer.” 

 

The Uchiha almost prompted naruto to imply their togetherness again, as such an act made his heart warm a bit, but refrained. “Fine.” He mumbled, squeezing the pillow tighter to his chest. “What did you have in mind?: 

 

Naruto beamed so brightly it almost made Sasuke glad he was awake to see it. “Okay, well, they’re kinda all over the place and not really specific, but just tell me which ones you’d be up to, okay?” Sasuke nodded, prompting the blondie to go on. 

 

“Okay, how about a fair?” 

 

“Fine.” 

 

“Picnic in a park?” 

 

“Fine.”

 

“Parks in general?” 

 

“Fine.” 

 

“The beach maybe?” 

 

“Fine.” 

 

The Uzumaki squinted his eyes, sensing that Sasuke wasn’t listening. “Obviously we need to reattempt that two person truth or dare game.” 

 

“Fine.” 

 

Naruto exhaled sharply through his nose. Sasuke was totally phasing him out! What a jerk! The Uzumaki’s mouth curled into a small smirk as he decided on a way to get his friend’s attention. 

 

“Kiss Sasuke Uchiha.”

 

“Fine.” 

 

The Uzumaki huffed in annoyance, knitting his eyebrows together. “You’re not even listening to me!” He whined, letting his hands drop melodramatically onto the mattress. 

 

Sasuke looked up with a cocked eyebrow. “I am too.”

 

“Oh yeah? What’s the last thing I said?” He challenged, sounding more disappointed than mad. 

 

“Kiss Sasuke Uchiha.” The taller boy repeated. “And before that you said we needed to reattempt the two man truth or dare.” 

 

Naruto tilted his head to the side, his eyebrows only knitting further together as his face turned red. He dropped his gaze and started to pick at the sheet adorning the bed. “But, uh, you said it was fine.” The words came out slowly, nervously. He’d only said that to get Sasuke’s attention! The Uchiha was never supposed to know about how much Naruto wanted to kiss him sometimes. 

 

“Because you said it to get a reaction out of me.” The dark haired boy shrugged. “I derail your jokes all the time.” Sasuke yawned and softly kicked Naruto’s leg. “That is, unless you weren’t joking.” He teased, smile clear in his voice. “Kidding.” He added for clarification. 

 

“Right,” Naruto agreed, nodding hastily as he looked back to Sasuke with a forced smile. “Joking! Of course.” He assured. “Anyway, we can talk about this in the morning. Go back to sleep.” The blond waved Sas off and turned his attention to the clock, or, more accurately, away from Sasuke. 

 

The Uchiha smirked to himself and put his pillow back in place, enjoying how cute and flustered the topic made Naruto. “Alright.” He laid down and turned on his side, facing away from Naruto. “Keep it on the list.” He mumbled, just barely loud enough for Naruto to hear. 

 

“Shut up.” The Uzumaki huffed, laying down, too. 

 

“Only if you make me.” Sasuke called back in a sing song voice.

 

“You’re an asshole.” 

 

“Kind of.” 

 

“Go to sleep.” 

 

“You’re the one who woke me up in the first place.” Sas pointed out, earning himself a kick to the back of his calf. He took that as a cue to shut up and did so, waiting a full five seconds of silence before saying “I’m serious about you keeping it on the list, y’know.” To which Naruto groaned in agitation. Sasuke laughed at this and tried to drift back to sleep once and for all, a small, self-assured smirk glued to his lips.


	16. Chapter 16

A steady stream of faint yellow streamed in through Sas’ blinds, coloring an annoyingly bright stripe across The Uchiha’s eyes. The teen shifted to try and evade it, but to no avail. The light was sure to only grow brighter with time, so the boy sat with a huff of annoyance, shifting away from the window all together. He looked over to the sleeping, snoring boy on the outside of his bed and smiled softly to himself. His hair was all over the place and his mouth was slightly agape, but he still held that angelic cuteness to him. Sasuke reached over and ruffled Naruto’s hair, mumbling “So cute.” under his breath before scooting around Naruto and stepping out of bed. 

 

The Uzumaki grinned and opened his eyes, seeing the perfect opportunity to catch Sasuke off guard. The taller male was standing with his back facing Naruto, preoccupied with checking emails on his phone. Perfect. Naruto silently slithered out from under the blanket, stepping cautiously onto the hardwood floor. He took two, silent steps towards Sasuke and wrapped his arms around the boy in one quick motion, proclaiming “Thanks, Sasuke, I think you’re cute too!” rather loudly. Sasuke jumped hard and sucked in a loud breath, making Naruto laugh as he released the Uchiha from his hold. 

 

“What was the point in that?!” The Uchiha demanded, all pink and flustered. Naruto thought he was absolutely adorable. 

 

“It was just too easy!” The blonde admitted, grinning a sunshine-y smile. “You should really start checking to see if I’m awake or not, Sasuke.” Naruto suggested as he walked past, bumping his friend on the shoulder on his way out. He made his way to the living room and plopped down on the couch, scooping up his phone from the covfefe table. He, Shikamaru, Kiba, Choji, Temari, Sakura, and Ino’s group chat was blown up with messages as it often was early in the morning. Sakura and Temari were discussing the party tonight after graduation while Kiba was on some rant to no one in particular about his expired PetSmart coupon. He remembered Sasuke still hadn’t given him a definite answer about going to the party, so he got up from the couch and walked back to Sasuke’s room where the aforementioned boy lay on his back, typing out a message to someone with the phone above his head. Naruto climbed back into bed and leaned his head on Sas’ chest, crossing his arms over his chest. 

 

“Sasuke.” 

 

No response. 

 

“Saaaaasukeeee.” Naruto called, using the same sing song voice as he always did. 

 

“Whaaat?” Sasuke asked, copying the lilt with a small smile before he set his phone on the mattress beside him. 

 

“You decided if you wanna go to the graduation party yet?” 

 

“Wasn’t really thinking about it.” He lied. “Who’s all going to be there again?” The Uchiha asked, partially to know and partially to give himself more time to decide if it was worth it. 

 

“Just the regular group.” The blonde shrugged. “Y’know, Shika, Kiba, Choj, ‘Mari, Sak’ra, Ino. Possibly me and you.” Sasuke liked that Naruto grouped them together and also liked that he at least knew the faces of everyone who would be there. The taller boy nodded and thought for a moment, his hand wandering to the pile of blonde hair at his chest. He twirled it softly between his fingers as he thought about all the risks of attending the party. There were, admittedly, a fuck ton, but the reward of a happy Naruto was greater than all of them combined, so he mentally agreed to go. Naruto nuzzled up into Sas’ hand, humming contently as he let his eyes flutter closed, eyelashes sweeping gently over the boy’s cheeks. Sasuke felt his heart repeatedly slam itself against his ribs as he gazed softly upon the angel. He felt like he was going to be sick, but, oddly enough, in a good way. “I’ll go.” Sasuke said quietly, his heart thumping even harder once Naruto looked up at him with an overjoyed expression. 

 

“Great!” He exclaimed, smiling widely. Naruto shifted onto his stomach and moved to wrap his arms around Sas’ middle, resting his cheek against the dark haired boy’s sternum. Sasuke shifted to hold Naruto back. The two stayed like that for a few minutes, just listening to the other breathe. And then an alarm went off from Sas’ phone, successfully alarming both teens. Naruto looked up in confusion, sitting up as Sasuke reached for his phone, muting the alarm. 

 

“We have to get ready for graduation.” The Uchiha informed somewhat disappointedly. 

 

Naruto nodded and climbed out of bed, stretching his back as he did so. “My clothes are at home.” He mumbled, pulling his shoes on. “I’ll call Iruka to come get me.” 

 

Sasuke nodded, slipping out of bed and gathering his white button up and black tie from his dresser, placing both his bed. He created a quick list of everything he had to do in the span of an hour, organizing them from most time consuming to least. Naruto stepped out to call Iruka and Sasuke figured he should probably give Kakashi a heads up just incase he got carried away with his work or reading or whatever else Kakashi did on Saturdays. Sasuke sent a quick message and set his phone on his pile of clothes on his bed. The Uchiha then set out for a shower, ruffling Naruto’s hair as he walked past him. Naruto just swatted his hand away with a smile and kept talking to his guardian about times and how he didn’t need to iron his gown. Sasuke smirked at the overwhelming domesticity of the entire situation and found himself starting the shower. 

 

Naruto had 20ish minutes to himself before Iruka would show, so he decided to make the list from before on actual paper, grabbing a notepad off Sasuke’s fridge and a pen from his desk. The Uzumaki sat at the bar and wrote down some of the things from last night. He added a few things they didn’t talk about last night like staying up for a whole 24 hours and convincing Sasuke to finally realize that mixed slushies were the way to go. After he had a list of about 10 things, he decided it was a good start and left it on the counter for Sasuke to look over. Iruka showed up three minutes later and so Naruto was gone, calling out a “See ya there, Sas!” before leaving. He continued to think of things through the ride home and getting ready, taking a moment or two to type more suggestions into his memo pad. Halfway through getting dressed, Naruto decided to call Sasuke to fill up the quietness with his favorite sound. The Uchiha picked up on the third ring like always. 

 

“Sas!”

 

“Nart.” 

 

“That’s still my favorite nickname ever.” 

 

Sasuke snickered to himself and shook his head, adjusting his tie in the mirror. “You’re welcome.” 

 

“Thank you so much. I owe you my life.” The Uzumaki grinned even though he knew Sasuke couldn’t see. “Anyway, you excited?” He cradled the device between his ear and shoulder as he pulled on his socks and too formal shoes. He just put this stuff on and he was already beyond ready to take it off and change back into a t-shirt. He bet Sasuke looked really good in it, though. Then he wiped that thought from his head and pushed it behind a wall of heteronormative facade, never to be seen again. 

 

“I guess.” The Uchiha shrugged. “Glad I don’t have to wake up at six in the morning and endure a pick up line from that annoying kid in my English class, though.” He joked, an actual smile blooming across his face. He stood and walked to the living room, looking for his shoes.

 

Naruto shook his head, matching Sas’ smile as he stood and set to locate his cap and gown. “Oh, wait, the one you called cute this morning and voluntarily spend all your time with?” The blonde teased, flipping through the hangers in his closet.

 

Sasuke rolled his eyes, silently grateful that Naruto wasn’t around to see the slow blush creep over his cheeks. “I don’t spend  _ all  _ my time with him.” The boy defended, though, now that he thought about it, he couldn’t really think of a day in the past week he  _ didn’t  _ spend time with Naruto. 

 

“‘Least he’s cute.” The blonde grinned, noticing Sasuke didn’t deny that part. “Anyway, he can’t be any worse than this guy in my English class. Let me tell you, real stick in the mud type guy. He wouldn’t even talk to me aside from making fun of my  _ genius _ pickup lines. It’s almost like he thought I was  _ annoying _ or something.” Naruto joked, finally finding his cap and gown.

 

“Maybe he thought you were just off puttingly confident.” Sasuke interjected. “Not to mention the first thing you ever said to him was a come-on.” He pointed out, locating his shoes and scooping them up, taking a seat at the bar as he pulled them on.

 

“ _ I’m _ off puttingly confident?” The blonde furrowed his eyebrows in disbelief, scoffing lightly. “Okay, Mr. Super Intimidating Cool Guy who, coincidentally, never talked to anyone, therefore also making him Mr. Mystery Guy.” Naruto shook his head just thinking about how he used to view Sas as some cold, calculating jerk. “Good thing you turned out to be a sweetheart, though.” He added. 

 

Sasuke actually laughed out loud, shaking his head. “I was  _ not _ that bad.” He insisted, leaning an arm on the bar, hearing some kind of paper rustle as he did. He picked up the paper and skimmed over it. 

 

The Uzumaki shrugged, smiling at Sas’ laugh. “Maybe not.” He agreed with a shrug. “You were intimidating, though.” Naruto reiterated. “Didn’t help that you were, like,  _ really- _ ” The blonde thought for a moment as to just what the fuck his mouth thought it was doing and clamped it closed. 

 

“Really what?” Sas asked, taking a pen and writing something at the bottom of the list. He slid it back to its original place and set the pen on top of it. 

 

“Nothing.” 

 

“...It didn’t help that I was really  _ nothing? _ ” 

 

“Not like  _ nothing _ nothing, Sasuke. Nothing like I don’t wanna say what I was going to say so it became nothing.” 

 

“Why don’t you want to say it?” He sounded concerned. “You’re not going to hurt my feelings or anything, we  _ both _ had inaccurate first impressions.”

 

Naruto waited a moment and shook his head. “Don’t worry, it wasn’t anything bad.”

 

The Uchiha furrowed his eyebrows. “If you say so.” He shrugged. “Anyway, I should probably go. Kakashi’s pulling up.” Sasuke slid off the stool and retrieved his cap and gown from his closet in the hallway, pulling the gown on over his head. “See you there.” 

 

“See you!” And with that, Sasuke hung up. Naruto messaged “tell kashi I said hi!!!” seconds after and then pocketed his phone. Iruka showed up in his doorway a few moments later to let him know they’d be leaving soon, too, so he donned his cap and gown, letting Iruka take a few pictures before they left. 

 

“I’m so proud of you.” Iruka said as he hugged Naruto for the third time, wiping tears away with the back of his hand. 

 

“Thanks, dad.” Naruto replied with a smile, squeezing his guardian close. It was tough not to think of his parents during such important milestones, but Iruka made it better like he had since Naruto’s sixth birthday and every one after that. The Uzumaki tried not to revel in his feelings for too long and dragged himself and Iruka towards the car, setting out for the last time Naruto would ever have to be in that school again.

 

At the ceremony, the entire graduating class was lined up alphabetically in a room beside the stage, which was good for Sasuke considering Naruto was right behind him, giving him a friendly face in the overcrowded gym. They were at the very end of the line, the only person behind them being Ino Yamanaka. Sasuke slipped his hand into Naruto’s, confident that the girl behind them either wouldn’t notice or wouldn’t care. 

 

“Are you excited?” Sasuke asked quietly as the first names were being called out. 

 

“Not as excited as I thought I’d be.” He admitted, rasp dropping from his abnormally soft voice. “It’s more sad than exciting, really.” 

 

The Uchiha squeezed Naruto’s hand softly, bumping him with his shoulder. “Hey,” He said softly. “Don’t look at it like that, it’s just the end of highschool. You’re still going to hang out with all of your friends and do dumb stuff together.” 

 

The shorter boy smiled just barely and leaned his head into Sasuke’s chest. “Thanks, Sas.”

 

“Could you lovebirds quiet down back there?” Shikamaru whispered from in front of them, making both of them just nod through the slight embarrassment. 

 

They only stopped holding hands when Sasuke’s name was called, and even then, they didn’t want to. Naruto whispered “Good luck.” and with that, Sasuke Uchiha did the impossible. He walked across that stage and got his diploma in front of all those strangers. He didn’t even turn red and feel like crying when Kakashi cheered loudly from the crowd. Instead, he felt, dare I say, happy. Proud. He knew his father and mother would be proud. He knew Itachi would be, too. Kakashi was, and so was Naruto. Their pride in him made walking to his designated seat bearable, and you best believe he cheered louder than ever when Naruto walked across that stage like he owned the place, like Sasuke knew he would. Naruto’s designated seat was, of course, by Sasuke’s, so they held hands through the rest of the ceremony and shared secret jokes only their eyes could tell. They knew graduation was only the start- that life held much bigger adventures for them outside these chipping, questioningly stained walls. They held that truth tight against their hearts and couldn’t stop themselves from smiling.


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so this chapter is a little heavier than usual but don't worry it's not that bad.   
> TW for panic attacks and dissociation.  
> Enjoy!

After graduation caps were thrown and pictures were snapped, Naruto and Sasuke set out to find their respective guardians, which wasn’t a very hard thing to do. Kakashi insisted that Sasuke take a picture with his not boyfriend, Naruto as Iruka insisted that Naruto take a picture with his second home, Sasuke. And so there were pictures snapped of them both together in the field behind the gym, the bright sun behind them illuminating Sasuke’s pale face and turning Naruto’s blonde hair into either a small forest fire or a halo depending on how you looked at it. Naruto loved it and decided that he’d ask Iruka make him a copy to hang in his room later. For now, though, he was getting out of these clothes. He told Sasuke he’d come pick him up later and was gone with a gust of wind, eager to get home and out of the uncomfortable shoes and button up. 

 

Once Naruto was changed, he opened his group chat and typed out a message. 

 

**NA NA NARDO:** sasukes coming tonight btw guys 

**(a furry):** wow naruto tmi 

**Ponytail:** Seriously.

**NA NA NARDO:** fuck off you knew what I meant

**(a furry):** yeah yeah we’re just fuckin with you 

**NA NA NARDO:** anyway 

**SOCK ORAL:** Yay! He’s funny.

**eye in oh:** and hot 

**SOCK ORAL:** INO 

**Pigtails:** It’s true though. 

**Pigtails:** Still not as attractive as Shika, though. 

**NA NA NARDO:** hey that’s my nickname for him!!!

**Pigtails:** Get over it

**innocent bby:** hey has anyone called dibs on bringing the food?

**Ponytail:** Don’t think so.

**(a furry):** nope 

**SOCK ORAL:** I’m bringing the non-alc drinks

**(a furry):** it’s happening at my house so i’m not bringing anything

**NA NA NARDO:** i’m bringing sas 

**Pigtails:** I’m bringing my incredible personality

**eye in oh:** same

**Ponytail:** You think you guys can get one in time?

**NA NA NARDO:** OOOOOOHHHHH 

**(a furry):** *coughs* roasted *coughs* 

**Pigtails** : I know where you live, Nara. 

**eye in oh:** carpool?

**Pigtails:** Definitely. 

**innocent bby:** okay i’m bringing food 

**Ponytail:** I’ve got alcohol this time. 

**NA NA NARDO:** I can bring that bottle you guys stashed under my bed that one time we let choj buy the alc 

**innocent bby:** an article I read said it went well with chicken!!

**Ponytail:** We know, Choji. It’s okay.

**(a furry):** go for it naruto it’s not like we can have too much 

**NA NA NARDO:** gotcha 

**NA NA NARDO:** anyway I’ll see you all there I’m gonna go pick up sas

**(a furry):** you kids have fun now ya hear 

**NA NA NARDO:** kiba I will rip those triangles off your cheeks

**Ponytail:** Ouch.

**SOCK ORAL:** Bye Naruto

 

And with that, he exited the group chat and pocketed his phone. He left after telling Iruka goodbye and ended up at Sasuke’s house a bit later. The blonde let himself in and waited at the bar for Sasuke to realize he was here. Which he did, showing up in his bedroom doorway with his cap, gown, and shoes missing, leaving him in his slacks, button up and tie. Naruto had been right earlier, it  _ definitely  _ suited Sasuke well. “I’ll be out in a second, just changing.” The Uchiha informed, stepping back out of eyesight, which Naruto was grateful for. 

 

The blonde shook his head free from the image of Sasuke’s slightly crooked tie and faintly disheveled hair, willing himself to focus on tapping on the counter. The Uzumaki’s fingertips grazed over a familiar piece of paper and picked it up for examination. He skimmed over the writing, noticing the only thing different was an extra bullet point in cursive writing at the bottom that read “Kiss Naruto Uzumaki.” Naruto rolled his eyes, sliding off the barstool and padding to Sas’ room. Sasuke was in the middle of pulling his black hoodie over his head, back turned. Naruto knew this was a perfect opportunity but also knew that two sneak attacks in one day would be overdoing it, so instead he just leaned against the doorframe.

 

“Look, Sasuke, I get that you’re like, head over heals in love with me and everything,” The blonde started, causing Sasuke to turn to face him with furrowed eyebrows. “But you really gotta stop leaving note all over the place saying you wanna kiss me.” The Uzumaki held the paper up for the other to see, who, as soon as he did, laughed. 

 

“In your dreams, Naruto.” He said as he walked past, entering the hallway and then the bathroom. He needed to take his medicine, especially if he was going to survive the party later. “I was just making a callback to  _ your _ three A.M. confession of wanting to kiss  _ me _ over the summer.” He shrugged, locating and opening his prescription bottle, tapping two pills into his hand. Naruto showed up in the doorway and grinned. He could never keep up banter with a straight face. 

 

“How’d you know about my dreams, Sas?” He asked, still grinning widely. Sasuke shook his head with a soft smirk and emptied the containments of his palm into his mouth, washing it down with water. Naruto assumed it was medicine of some sort. 

 

“ _ Obviously _ I’m a magical creature and can read any dream I want to.” The Uchiha stated, turning around and walking past Naruto once again. 

 

“Can you read minds too?” Naruto asked, following Sasuke to the kitchen where he retrieved two water bottles from the fridge and handed one to Naruto. 

 

“Definitely.” He agreed, taking a sip from his bottle and then closing it, setting it on the counter behind him before jumping up on said counter, Naruto followed suit. 

 

“Prove it.” The blondie challenged, leaning in ever so slightly and closing his eyes in deep concentration. “What am I thinking about right now?” 

 

Sasuke rolled his eyes and smirked. “New ways to annoy me?” 

 

The blonde shook his head. “Nope! Try again, jerk.” 

 

“The graduation party?” 

 

“No, though I was talking about that with the group chat earlier. Ino called you hot.” 

 

The Uchiha wrinkled his nose. “Is that the one with pink hair or the one dating Shikamaru?” 

 

Naruto laughed and opened his eyes. “Neither, it’s the blonde one.” 

 

“It’s a shame I don’t like blondes.” Sasuke shrugged, eyeing Naruto from the corner of his eye to see him scowl. 

 

“Liar,” Naruto scooted closer to Sas and bumped his shoulder. “You think this blonde is  _ cute _ .” 

 

“You called me cute, too, you know.” Sasuke bumped his shoulder back. 

 

“Only to embarrass you.” Naruto shrugged. Sasuke rolled his eyes. The Uzumaki let a slow grin spread across his face. “You are cute, though.” He said, sounding as nonchalant as possible. “Very cute.”

 

Sasuke wrinkled his nose again, hunching his shoulders forward and ahead of his chest. “Gross, Naruto.” He knew the blonde was just trying to get a rise out of him, so why did he have to actively fight off the blush threatening to color his face? It’s not like he cared. 

 

“It’s not gross!” Naruto laughed. “You’re cute! Adorable, even.” His grin widened as Sasuke hid his face in his hands. “At least I’m telling you while you’re awake, Sas.” The blonde shrugged, having way too much fun with this. 

 

“You were awake.” He defended, sound muffled by his hands. 

 

“You didn’t think I was, though!” Naruto pointed out. 

 

Sasuke huffed in annoyance and took his head from his hands, his face retaining a few splotches of faint pink. He didn’t want to do this but knew that he had to if he wanted Naruto to drop it. With the stress of graduation and then impending stress of that damn party, Sasuke guessed he should probably just get it over with to alleviate another factor of possible distress. The boy turned and folded his legs, Naruto doing the same so they faced each other on the countertop. “Okay, awake as can be Naruto Uzumaki, I, Sasuke Uchiha, think that you’re cute. Everything about you is adorable.” He tried to stop himself there, he  _ needed  _ to stop himself there, but words and thoughts just started bubbling to the top and running over, forcing themselves into the small space between the two. “Your hair is soft and nice to play with, and it’s even nicer knowing that you like me playing with it. Your skin is also weirdly soft. Like, one person shouldn’t be so soft and warm and comfortable to hold.” He continued, words getting quicker. He could feel his fingertips go numb. This was not going to end well. “Your smiles make me want to believe in angels and your gentle, kind eyes lead me to believe I already know one.” He started to get light headed. Oh no. Oh  _ no. _ “I love your stupid, corny jokes and the look of satisfaction you get from telling them. I love your disgusting combination slushies and your amusement in that disgust. I love the way you look when you’re sleeping or pretending to sleep, like nothing in the world could disturb your quiet bubble of happy content. I love the way you look at the stars and the way you look at me like I’m made of them- like I’m made of  _ something _ . Like I’m not _ broken _ , like you actually care about me and not just my sob story. I moved miles away from those empty, sympathetic smiles that meant nothing right into yours that mean  _ everything _ because  _ you _ mean everything, Naruto.” He was getting dizzy. He couldn’t pick his eyes up from the tile. He felt like he could fall over at any moment. The words weren’t stopping. “You,” His throat was dry. His chest was impossibly tight. “You  _ are  _ everything.” And with that, he felt like he was falling. Probably because he  _ was _ falling. Naruto lurched forward and grabbed his friend by the shoulders, holding him upright. 

 

“Sasuke, are you okay? Sasuke,” The blonde spoke urgently, wild eyes searching the Uchiha’s face. “Look, hang on, you need to lay down.” Naruto carefully slid off the tile, holding Sasuke up as he slowly led him to his bed. Sasuke didn’t care where he was going, in fact, he didn’t even feel like he was going anywhere, just watching feet move under him and eventually finding themselves at the foot of a bed and then inside a bed. Under the blankets, he still felt cold. At some point, everything went black and Sasuke could see the body go to sleep, which, coincidentally, brought Sasuke out of consciousness, too. Weird how that works. 

 

When Sasuke came back around to consciousness, he heard a muffled voice and had the worst headache ever. He tried to slip back into sleep but to no success. 

 

“Yeah, I  _ know _ . I tried that already, it didn’t work.” A pause. “I did.” Another pause. “I can’t, I don’t have his phone number. I wish I did, though, he might know what to do. Sas said he lives down the road so if I have no other options I might just start banging on doors and yelling for him until I find him.” Pause. “Fine.” The voice sighed. Sasuke stirred a little, sitting himself up slowly against the headboard to see who was talking. It was at this point he realized he wasn’t wearing his hoodie or shirt. He felt exposed and wondered when he lost the items. The Uchiha grunted and pressed his face into his palms, hearing the voice make a confused noise before saying “Sasuke! Iruka, he’s up, I’ll call you back in a minute, okay? Okay, bye!” Sasuke then heard something being set down and felt a body sit on his bed beside him. The body gently rose a hand to Sasuke’s wrist and pulled it down slowly, peering at his face. Sasuke opened his eyes and looked up, finding a very worried looking Naruto Uzumaki. 

 

“Naruto.” Sasuke moved to put his face back in his hands. “Hi.” Memories of everything that happened from the mind reading to falling came flooding back, making Sas exhale heavily with embarrassment. He felt arms wrap around him and settle around his ribs, making sure to be extra ginger and safe. 

 

“I’m so glad you’re awake, Sas, you really scared me.” Naruto remarked, using his soft, comforting voice. “Iruka thinks you had a panic attack. He said to make sure you’re breathing and don’t get hot and you’ll be okay.” Sasuke nodded. That explained the loss of his hoodie and shirt. “I was going to call Kakashi since I figured he’s probably dealt with this before but I didn’t have his number and Iruka was talking me through it so I didn’t feel like it was really all that necessary.” Sasuke nodded again. Naruto shifted out of the hug and let his hands drop to the mattress. “Want some water? I brought some in here.” The Uchiha nodded a third time and Naruto passed him the glass of ice water from Sas’ nightstand. “I’m gonna call Iruka and let him know you’re safe, okay? He was worried too.” The Uchiha nodded a fourth time and accepted the glass from Naruto without looking up. Sasuke could feel that there was more Naruto wanted to say but the blonde didn’t utter another word before standing and calling up Iruka from the hallway right outside Sasuke’s door. This gave Sasuke a moment to think. God, how he didn’t want to think. 

 

He’d all but confessed his love for his  _ friend _ , going into great, painful specifics that he knew he’d never be able to take back. What was worse was that he meant it, every word was the truth. Naruto wasn’t stupid, he had to know that, too. And what’s even better- he practically fainted. If it hadn’t been for Naruto, he’d probably still be on the floor with a much worse headache. Sasuke took a long gulp from the glass, cold ice softly jostling around and hitting his teeth. He could feel the coldness seep from his mouth and branch off to cool every part of him off, making him instantly feel at least a little better. Naruto peeked in from the doorway a second later and asked if Sasuke was hungry. The Uchiha thought the question a little odd and glanced to the clock. How the  _ hell  _ was it already six P.M.? Sasuke blinked and looked back to Naruto with a horrified expression, who just nodded with a slight laugh. 

 

“Yeah, I know. You were out for a while.” 

 

“Fuck.” He sighed, rubbing his eyes. “What was that, two hours?” 

 

“More like an hour and a half.” The blonde shrugged. “Anyway, are you hungry or not? I can order pizza or something if you want.” 

 

“Pizza’s fine, thanks.” Sas assured, giving Naruto the cue to once again leave and call the local pizza place. Sasuke slowly stood from his bed, surprising himself with his own stability. The Uchiha reached for a clean t-shirt from his closet and pulled it over his head. He then switched his jeans for sweatpants, bringing the pile of clothes that had accumulated on his floor to his hamper across the room, tossing them in. He was starting to feel a little more normal despite the aching feeling of regret in his chest that told him Naruto would never see him the same way again. Sasuke knew that was probably true but decided to repress it for as long as possible as he walked into the kitchen, retrieving his phone and then finding himself on the couch in the living room. He put something on TV to fill in the silence and unlocked his phone, not finding anything worth his attention. Naruto joined him a moment later, sitting beside him but not as close as he usually did. Sasuke realized he probably fucked up more than he even knew and cut the TV volume down to four, turning to Naruto. 

 

“Did you miss the party?” He asked, not really knowing why he started there. 

 

“Nah, you know how Kiba is, it’ll be going on all night.” Naruto stated with a shrug. “I’m not going, though. I already told them we were staying home.” The blonde waited a bit before adding “I didn’t tell them why, just that we weren’t feeling up to it.” 

 

Sasuke sighed and closed his eyes, leaning his head on the back of the couch. “I’m sorry, Naruto.” 

 

“What?” Naruto scooted a little closer. “No, look, Sas, don’t be sorry. There’s always gonna be another party.” 

 

“I didn’t mean the party.” The Uchiha stated quietly. Naruto nodded a little and looked to the ground. 

 

“Don’t be sorry about that, either.” The blonde said, causing Sasuke to look at him with a difficult expression. “You were stressed and panicking, it’s not your fault.” Naruto offered a small, warm smile. “So you said some things you didn’t mean, so what? It happens to everybody.” He shrugged nonchalantly but his heart was racing. He wanted Sasuke to say that it wasn’t just panic, that he meant it. All of it. 

 

“Naruto,” He sighed. “You know I meant it. I’m sorry.” Sasuke made a move to stand but Naruto grabbed his wrist, holding him there. 

 

“Saaaaas,” Naruto pulled lightly, calling in that damn singsong voice like everything was okay. “Stay. Please. I need to talk to you.” Sasuke sat despite himself, knowing he’d probably regret it later. “Okay, so, you know that guy from my English class I’m always telling you about?” He asked, scooting closer and settling beside Sasuke, moving his hand from his wrist to hold his hand. “You know, the intimidating until you meet him, tall, kinda emo looking one? Yeah, well, so, don’t tell him I told you this, but I’m sorta in love with him.” 

 

Sasuke almost choked, eyes going wide. Naruto pretended not to notice. 

 

“Yeah, I know what you’re thinking. You don’t see it. You wouldn’t get it unless you spent as much time with him as I have, I guess. He’s actually a total sweetheart, though. You should see the way he looks at me when he thinks I can’t see or the way his hand fits so well into mine. It’s like they were made for eachother, y’know? Like  _ we _ were made for eachother. Don’t get me wrong, he’s definitely still an asshole and hates everything fun,” Sasuke pinched the inside of Naruto’s hand, earning a big smile. “But he’s grown on me. We can joke with each other for hours on end and talk about absolutely nothing at all until it become something worthwhile. Sasuke has a habit of doing that, though, making everything worthwhile. Every morning I wake up next to him I feel like the luckiest person ever because god knows he could’ve picked anyone he wanted, but he picked me. You think that means something? Should I tell him? I feel like I should, but I don’t know, I don’t wanna scare him off or anything.” Naruto looked up to Sasuke, who was blushing a lot and couldn’t stop smiling. 

 

“Absolutely not.” 

 

“What? Why not?” Naruto furrowed his eyebrows. 

 

“He doesn’t deserve you.” 

 

Naruto rolled his eyes and grinned back at his grinning Sasuke, leaning forward and placing a short, soft kiss to Sasuke’s cheek. “Well, too bad,” Naruto shrugged, leaning his head in the crook of Sas’ shoulder. “‘Cause he already has me.”


	18. Chapter 18

_ Others Interlude  _

 

“We should tell them.” Naruto suggested, resting his chin on Sasuke’s chest. After pizza he’d climbed on top of the other boy and laid there, not moving since. 

 

Sasuke shrugged and continued to twist soft, pale yellow locks around his fingers. “They probably already know.” 

 

The shorter boy laughed a little and grinned up at the Uchiha. “Yeah, Shikamaru and Temari have been insisting we’d be cute with together since I met you.” 

 

“Kakashi’s been calling you my boyfriend anytime your head was turned.”

 

“Iruka calls you ‘my second home’.” 

 

“That’s sweet.” 

 

“A little.” Naruto shrugged. He moved up a bit and placed a kiss on the tip of Sasuke’s nose. He’d been doing this for at least an hour, giving little kisses all over Sas’ face except for his lips. “Hey, y’know what’d be better than telling them?” 

 

“What’s that?” 

 

“Just getting increasingly more grossly affectionate in public until someone calls us out.” 

 

Sasuke smirked, nodding. “Who do you think is gonna say something first?” 

 

“Shika, probably.” The Uzumaki shrugged. “He called us out for holding hands in the movie theater.” Naruto thought for a second. “Or ‘Kashi, but probably only to you.” 

 

The Uchiha nodded. “You know him so well.” The comment made Naruto grin and place a kiss on Sasuke’s chin. Sasuke smiled and pressed a kiss to Naruto’s forehead. They went back and forth like this for a while, Naruto eventually pressing a gentle kiss to his lover’s lips in between giggles. The Uchiha sat up a little and brought a hand to rest on the blonde’s cheek, running his thumb softly over the highest point before leaning in and matching his lips to Naruto’s like they were pieces of a two part puzzle that would only ever fit with each other. The Uzumaki couldn’t stop smiling- Sasuke didn’t want him to.


	19. Chapter 19

“You wanna go to the fair?” Naruto asked from Sas’ bedroom doorway. “The rest of the group is going, too.” The blonde added, glancing to his phone. “They wanna carpool. Ino says hi. Shikamaru as- y’know what, I’m just gonna add you to the chat. 

NA NA NARDO added Sasuke Uchiha  
NA NA NARDO changed Sasuke Uchiha’s nickname to sas

NA NA NARDO: okay now you guys can ask him yourselves I quit as message man  
Ponytail: Do you wanna come to the fair with everyone, Sasuke?  
sas: When?   
Ponytail: In an hour or so 

Sasuke looked from his bed and asked Naruto if he wanted to go. Naruto nodded. 

sas: Sure.   
NA NA NARDO: YAY EVERYONE’S GOING  
Pigtails: I’m driving so I need everyone’s addresses.   
SOCK ORAL: My address is in my contact info!  
Pigtails: Thanks  
Pigtails: I only really need Ino’s and Sasuke’s I have everyone else  
Pigtails: Unless you want to pick up Sasuke and us pick you both up at your place, Naruto.   
NA NA NARDO: actually I’m at sas’ already I spent the night  
NA NA NARDO: I’ll send his address he’s ignoring the chat   
eye in oh: why  
NA NA NARDO: he’s getting ready   
NA NA NARDO: he probably just didn’t want any distractions  
Ponytail: What, you’re not a distraction?   
sas: He is   
NA NA NARDO: :((((((  
eye in oh: lmao

Naruto padded over to the bathroom, waiting on the other side of the closed door with an exaggerated frown and crossed arms. 

NA NA NARDO changed sas’s nickname to JERK   
eye in oh changed JERK’s nickname to savage   
NA NA NARDO changed savage’s nickname to JERK!!!  
NA NA NARDO changed eye in oh’s nickname to also jerk  
also jerk changed her own nickname to eye in oh

eye in oh: ok I g2g get ready bye nardo and jerk

NA NA NARDO changed JERK!!!’s nickname to sas k

sas k: Bye  
NA NA NARDO: ✌️   
Pigtails: See you in an hour

And with that, everyone closed out the conversation and went about getting ready. Well, everyone except for Naruto, who was still being dramatic outside the bathroom door. A few minutes in, Sasuke opened the door and jumped a little, rolling his eyes with a slight smile. 

“Is that your frown face?” 

“Yes.” 

The Uchiha shook his head lightly before leaning in and pressing a kiss to Naruto’s forehead. “Being a distraction isn’t really a bad thing, Naruto, it just means that I’d rather be hanging out with you than doing what I’m supposed to be doing.” Sasuke shrugged. “You’re more fun than getting ready.” 

The blonde eased up on his frowny face and allowed a small smirk to take residence at his lips. Naruto rested his forehead against Sas’ collarbone, sliding his arms around the other’s waist. “Fine.” He sighed. “Hey, can I borrow some clothes? I don’t feel like wasting gas to get back home just to drive back here.” 

Sasuke answered with a small nod and kissed the top of Naruto’s head before mumbling “Don’t care, although they might be a little big since you’re so short and all.” He teased. 

“I’m two inches shorter than you, jackass.” The Uzumaki rolled his eyes and pulled out of the embrace. “Thanks.” He added, turning to walk towards Sas’ room as Sasuke turned back into the bathroom for a shower. Naruto didn’t take much time finding a clean t-shirt and hoodie, deciding to keep his grey joggers, no matter how slightly dirty, on, because there was no way in hell he’d be squeezing himself into a pair of Sasuke’s skinny jeans. The Uzumaki swiped on some of his boyfriend’s deodorant and pulled on one of his stupid band t-shirts, thinking briefly of how tremendously domestic the act was before pulling the navy blue hoodie over his head. The Uzumaki quickly brushed wisps of blonde out of his face and dragged a hand through his golden locks, nodding to himself in the mirror before sliding on a pair of socks and shoving his feet into his shoes. Naruto decided to wait on the couch for Sasuke to be ready and put on some Disney movie rerun to occupy his time. 

Sasuke emerged from the shower about 20 minutes later, was dressed in 10, and had his hair fixed in 5. Sasuke found his Naruto clearly immersed in some animated film he himself had never heard of. He never was really a fan of cartoons. 

Pigtails: Hey I’m on you lovebirds’ street now   
sas k: We’ll be out in a second, Naruto’s really into this animated movie on TV.   
Pigtails: What is it?   
sas k: No idea. 

“Temari wants to know what this movie is.” Sasuke spoke up from beside the couch, causing Naruto to jump. 

The blonde shook his head slightly and turned his gaze back to the movie as he stood. “It’s The Rescuers. What, you’ve never seen it?” He turned with a furrowed brow. 

The taller boy just shook his head and made his way to the door, his boyfriend following. “We’re adding a Disney movie marathon to the list.” The Uzumaki declared as they made it out onto the lawn. Just as Sasuke halfheartedly agreed to the event, Temari pulled in, all of Naruto’s other friends in tow. Naruto and Sasuke boarded and took the last two seats, both beside each other in the back. Once everyone was buckled into their seats and the doors were closed, they were off. 

Sasuke gazed out of the window, admiring the bright blue of the sky against white, fluffy clouds. A few moments later, Naruto leaned over the other and rolled the window all the way down, grinning as the Uchiha turned to fix him with an empty glare, successfully turning the glare into playfully rolled eyes and a soft smirk. Sas’ hand wandered over the other’s, lightly dragging his fingertips over Naruto’s open palm before sliding their perfectly suited hands together. The blonde happily took his boyfriend’s hand in his own and held it as he danced in his seat in excitement. His dancing only got more noticeable as time passed and hit a peak as a rather upbeat love song played over the radio. The Uzumaki swiveled his body back and forth to the music, not following the beat quite as well as Sakura or Ino, but managing pretty well. He lip synced the lyrics and scooped Sasuke’s hands into his own, moving them along with the beat, too. The Uchiha let it happen, watching his partner’s happy face mouth along to the song with an amused expression that could very easily be mistaken as an absolutely enamored expression. This is because it was, unintentionally, an absolutely enamored expression. 

“Why don’t you look at me like that?” Shika questioned jokingly from the passenger’s seat, nodding to Sasuke in the rearview mirror. Temari followed his gaze for a moment, turning her attention back to the road right after. 

“How sweet.” She remarked with a slight smirk. “I swear, they’ll be together by the end of the summer.” She prophesied as they pulled into the parking lot. The girl took one more look in the rearview mirror, seeing that Sasuke had kept the subtle heart eyes and that Naruto had kept their both of their hands held. “Or sooner.” She added. Shikamaru replied only with an amused exhale as he unbuckled and stepped out onto the pavement, waiting for Temari before heading for the fair entrance, everyone else following suit. 

Naruto could smell the cotton candy and popcorn from the back of the group, where he could also see blinking lights go up and down and all around on the rides. He clasped Sasuke’s arm and all but vibrated with excitement. The Uchiha placed a stealthy kiss to the mop of blonde sitting atop Naruto’s head and slid his arm to rest at the Uzumaki’s shoulders. Naruto nuzzled Sasuke’s side and his grin grew even wider. He knew a great day was just getting started.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The song I had in my head as I wrote the Naruto singing to Sasuke scene was I Would Do Anything For You by Foster The People. Whether or not you choose to accept that as canon is up to you, but I thought I'd just let you all know what I thought it to be. Feel free to insert whatever cheesy love song of your choosing there, though!


	20. Chapter 20

_Ferris wheel interlude_

The crisp, untouchable blue backdrop in which Naruto’s smiles were soaked and Sasuke’s invisible touches were illuminated was slowly starting to give out. Soon, the bright, summer sky started to seep and drift away, taking the too loud laughs and Sakura’s camera shutters with it. It was darker now, a bit less blue. Everyone was pretty tired out from the rides and jokes and sun. This, they decided, was their last stop. The ferris wheel. Naruto and Sasuke boarded last, Naruto ensuring that the coincidentally orange cart would be the most fun and Sasuke not really caring either way. Once strapped in, the two elevated slowly through the cool air, taking a much needed moment to breathe.

“I liked today.” Sasuke said softly, sliding his hand expertly into Naruto’s palm, lacing their fingers together. Naruto turned and gave a lopsided grin, lightly squeezing Sas’ hand.

“I did, too.” He said, nodding. Sasuke smiled and gave a swift nod, turning back to the sky as the orange cart neared the peak.

A few moments later, Sasuke admired what he believed to be the second most beautiful sight he’d ever seen. What seemed like infinite lights lit the ground below, all sparkling or flashing in one way or another, so colorful and bright. The view was absolutely breathtaking, though Naruto thought his view of the scene perfectly reflected in Sas’ wide eyes and barely noticeably curved lips was much more breathtaking.

“Wow.” Was all Sasuke could mumble.

“Yeah.” Naruto agreed, a smile plastered to his face as he appreciated the soft illumination and amazed qualities of Sasuke's face. It was a view he could admire for all of time.

Once the ride was over, the group started back towards Temari’s mom van, emitting only noises of footsteps and quiet small talk. It was the best way to close out the day, Sasuke thought as he climbed into the back seat with Naruto and they started their way home. The blonde cuddled up and lightly hummed a vaguely familiar tune, murmuring the same cheesy love song lyrics he’d sang to at full volume hours before. Somehow, they were a thousand times more cheesy when sang softer than the gentle cheek kiss Sasuke received just before he and Naruto drifted to sleep in each other's arms- and a thousand times sweeter, too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THE FLOOR IS A CONSISTENT UPDATING SCHEDULE


	21. Chapter 21

A few days later, the couple finally had a perfect opportunity for the Disney movie marathon Naruto had come up with. The stage was set perfectly: rain at the windows, tapping in the gentle way rain does before a summer storm wreaked havoc, the dark grey sky casting minimal light through closed blinds, a lazy Saturday where neither of them had anything else to do. Naruto made it a point to cut every light in the house off to maximize movie theater likeness and piled up every blanket and pillow he could hold in two arms for optimal coziness. He was practically vibrating with excitement once Sasuke appeared at his door, attacking him with a hug and a few thousand kisses as he walked in. The Uchiha almost tripped twice just trying to get inside the house far enough for the door to close. Once that was accomplished, Sasuke hugged the other back, squeezing him gently before letting go. 

 

“Everything’s set up in the living room.” Naruto informed, taking Sasuke’s hand and leading the way. Sasuke looked around the dark room and allowed his eyes some time to adjust. 

 

“Why are all the lights off?” He asked, taking a seat beside Naruto on the overflowing couch. He had to set a throw pillow on the ground just so there was enough room to sit. 

 

“So you can see the screen better!” The blonde answered, scooting back a little and laying on his side, causing a few pillows to fall off as well. He didn’t seem to notice, smiling when Sasuke laid beside him and he clicked play on the movie. “First stop,  _ The Rescuers. _ ” Naruto propped himself up on an elbow and immediately became entranced in the pictures moving across the screen. 

 

Sasuke found himself completely uninterested, his eyes instead drifting to the ceiling. He was never really into cartoons. The ceiling soon became boring, the Uchiha opting instead to close his eyes and listen the the rain that was slowly picking up momentum outside. The tapping became a steady thump that sounded every other second. A rumble could be identified in the distance. Perfect weather to stay inside. 

 

Sasuke glanced over to Naruto, his heart fluttering at the sight of the other’s content smile and messy hair that was tinted blue in the faint lighting. Sasuke stared a moment longer and kicked the other lightly on the leg. Naruto looked up and tilted his head as to ask what Sasuke wanted. Sas shook his head and kicked him again, causing Naruto to kick him back with a slowly growing smirk. The Uchiha pushed his boyfriend on the shoulders to which the latter retaliated by pushing Sasuke off of the couch. Luckily there were pillows to cushion the fall, one of which was scooped up and thrown at the Uzumaki’s face. Laughter filled the room as they both launched pillows or blankets at each other, Naruto laughing loud enough to drown out the noise of an incoming phone call emitting from Sasuke’s phone that had since found its way under the couch. The blonde was pulled onto the floor by his legs, landing on his knees that were inches away from crashing into Sasuke’s stomach. That was close. The Uchiha got back up onto the couch, Naruto following right after, capturing the other’s hands in his right hand as he climbed into Sasuke’s lap, immediately tickling the Uchiha’s sides with his free hand. Black hair was tossed all about as the boy shook with laughter, thrashing hard enough to break out of Naruto’s grasp a few seconds later, attacking the boy’s sides with both of his hands, laughing as the blonde squirmed and tried to get away, only succeeding after scratching Sasuke’s shoulder to catch him off guard.

 

Naruto escaped to his bedroom, closing the door and leaning against it since Kiba broke the lock a few years back. Naruto let out a surprised yelp as the door was opened with ease, sending the blonde toppling back. The Uzumaki jumped to his feet and took the other’s hands so he couldn’t be tickled again, still laughing pretty hard. Sasuke laughed too, letting go of Naruto’s hands as he went to hold his stomach, head bent down towards the floor. Naruto grinned at the sight, taking a moment to catch his breath as he walked backwards and sat on his bed. If he hadn’t already taken all of his nine pillows to the living room, he would have definitely thrown another just keep the play fight going. Once Sasuke was done laughing for the most part, he joined Naruto on his bed, his unforgivingly pale skin covered with pink splotches. Naruto smiled at the sight and peppered kisses all over the boy’s face, ending the kissing spree with sweet kiss against his lips, both boys moving in soft synchronization. Naruto couldn’t stop smiling. 

 

Meanwhile, Mr. Umino was doing the complete opposite of smiling.

 

He tried to call Naruto six times while Kakashi continuously called Sasuke. Neither teen picked up, leaving Iruka to assume they were asleep and Hatake to assume they were too busy flirting to check their phones. Kakashi lead the way to Sasuke’s, which is where they both thought they’d find the boys. When they didn’t, Iruka let the way to his own house, feeling relieved once he spotted Naruto’s car in the yard next to what he assumed was Sasuke’s. He and Kakashi made their way to the front door, Iruka unlocking the door and walking in with the other. As soon as they stepped inside, Iruka switched the kitchen light on, confused as to why it was so dark. Kakashi followed the noise of people talking to the living room, finding an abandoned mess and the TV playing some mouse movie. The two shared a look of confusion, Iruka thinking for a moment before he led the way down the hall, letting out a shocked yelp as his hands flew up to his eyes. Kakashi just sighed and shook his head, holding back a laugh as both Naruto and Sasuke looked up with horror ridden expressions. The two were making out in Naruto’s bed with flushed faces and disheveled hair. Kakashi knew all he needed to. 

 

“Iruka! I- wait, Kakashi?” Naruto looked between the men in his doorway with a confused expression, his face slowly heating up. Why was he here? 

 

“Neither of you were picking up your phones, so we assumed you were together.” The grey haired man explained in a monotonous voice. Iruka removed his face from his hands and crossed his arms. “We decided to check Sasuke’s house first, because that’s where you two usually are, but we didn’t find you so we came here.” 

 

“You know each other?” Sasuke questioned, raising an eyebrow. 

 

“Hardly.” Kakashi admitted. “We’re coworkers.” 

 

“Naruto mentioned a Kakashi so I asked to find out if this Kakashi was the one Naruto talked about.” Iruka filled in rather weakly. “I check in with him to make sure you two aren’t getting into any trouble.” He added.

 

Kakashi nodded. “Speaking of trouble, Sasuke, go pick up whatever mess you made in the living room. You know better than that. You’re almost eighteen.” He scolded. 

 

“You too, Naruto.” 

 

 

With that, the two boys nodded and walked past their guardians with still embarrassed expressions, giving each other “Well, they know now.” and “I’m never going to live this down.” looks as they returned pillows and blankets to their rightful places. Iruka and Kakashi supervised from the living room, holding a mumbled conversation between themselves. Once Naruto and Sasuke were done, they sat a foot away from each other on the couch and pretended their phones were the most interesting things in the world. Kakashi couldn’t help but laugh a little. Iruka elbowed him in the arm but chuckled as well. 

 

“Alright, Sasuke, let’s go home. I was calling to see if you wanted me to pick you up anything on my way over, but I guess you can just go out later when you’re hungry.” Kakashi said, sounding bored. Sasuke stood and only took two steps before Kakashi interjected “What, you’re not going to give your boyfriend a goodbye kiss?” Sasuke glared and walked by, waiting in the yard for Kakashi to come out. 

 

“I knew you two would get together eventually.” Hatake assured, talking to the bright pink Naruto hiding his face in his hands. If he’d found out any other way, Naruto wouldn’t have been so embarrassed, but the way it happened was kind of the worst. “You should’ve seen the way he looked at you when you weren’t looking. Plus the paintings that musuem hung up that were so clearly about the two of you meeting.” He added. “So romantic.” And with that, he waved to Iruka and left, smirking the whole drive home. He  _ totally  _ called it. What dorks.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter makes me laugh. Anyway, hoped you enjoyed!   
> On an unrelated note, I might be starting a new multichap sns fic soon, so keep an eye out for it.   
> Thanks for reading! I really appreciate all of your comments and support!!


	22. Chapter 22

The acceptance letters came in a little late. Everyone was much too excited to care about the time, though. Naruto was the only one who didn’t get into his first choice, but he did get into his second choice, so he was still pretty damn over the moon. With Sasuke transferring so late in the year, his transcript was a little off what with classes not carrying over and stuff like that, and while the school handled it all, Sasuke’s applications were still affected just a little, so he hadn’t gotten a response from some of the portfolio applications, but with  _ his _ skill level and grades Naruto pretty much figured he’d get into whatever school he wanted to and wrote it off as a collective victory for everyone in his friend group. The best thing was that most everyone was planning on staying relatively local, which meant they could keep in touch and still hang out. Kiba suggested a celebration. No one objected. 

 

Sasuke and Naruto were ready and on their way around 6, but ended up being late anyway thanks to Naruto insisting on a 7/11 detor. The pair got their regular slushies and sat on the pavement next to the entrance, trading sips and marveling at how great the frozen slush felt sliding down and cooling them from the inside out in the sticky June heat. Everything about it was perfect, which is probably why the two stayed longer than originally planned. The sky was quickly descending into darkness, ushering out a sprinkling of stars and the faintest sliver of moon. Concrete left indentations on Naruto’s palms as he leaned back to admire the sky, wide blue eyes reflecting the specks of light so beautifully. Sasuke wanted to take a picture but left his phone in the car, so he decided on a mental snapshot instead, encasing the memory right by all the other Naruto related thoughts and images. The words were out of Sasuke’s mouth before he could even really think about it, out and into the openness around them. They settled on Naruto’s shocked expression and dusted his immediately teary eyes. Sure, Sas had said much sweeter and more heartfelt things that  _ implied _ what he just confirmed, but there was something extra special about hearing it out loud for the first time. The blonde leaned over, wiping the concrete pebbles out of his hands before they found their way to Sasuke’s face, holding his cheeks gently. 

 

“I love you too, ya sap.” The Uzumaki grinned and peppered kisses all over the other’s face. Sasuke didn’t object. 

 

When the couple did finally show up at Shikamaru’s door, they were greeted by a voice yelling “It’s unlocked!” from inside. Naruto pushed the door open with a shrug and found a mostly empty living room. A few people were standing around and the TV was on some animated Adult Swim show, but other than that, the room was pretty dead. Naruto waved to the people he knew and a few he didn’t as he lead the way deeper into the house. A dull thud of some unknown song could be heard getting louder the further back you went. The two found themselves at Shikamaru’s back door, Naruto excited now that he could hear all the talking and Sasuke wondering why these things were always held outside. The Uzumaki pushed through the door and stepped into the yard, Sasuke in tow as he made his way to the circle formed around something glowing that was, surprisingly, not a fire, but a lantern. 

 

“Sorry we’re late!” Naruto greeted, waving a little as people looked up at him. “Made a slushie stop.”

 

“You and fucking slushies, man.” Kiba shook his head, Sakura doing the same but in a less mocking way. “You have a problem.” Naruto just scoffed.

 

“Make room, everyone.” Shikamaru instructed, shifting closer to Choji and creating a small gap next to Ino. Ino scooted closer to Sakura who moved closer to Kiba who didn’t move at all. Beside Kiba, Temari shifted closer to Kiba and Choji moved closer to Temari and Shikamaru already scooted closer to Choji so that completed the full circle. Now there was a big enough space for two, so Naruto and Sasuke took their seats, Naruto on the Shikamaru side and Sasuke on the Ino side. 

 

“We’re playing truth or dare.” Ino filled in, causing Naruto to nod. Sasuke swore that truth or dare was the only game they knew how to play, though with a friend group that size you only had so many options. 

 

“Okay, so, Ino, it’s your turn.” Sakura prompted, turning to the girl Sasuke didn’t know. The name was familiar, though, so she probably went to their school or something. Not that it mattered anymore. 

 

“Right. Sakura, truth or dare?” She asked.

 

“Dare.” 

 

“I dare you to do your best impression of,” Ino looked between the faces of everyone in the group. “Naruto.” She decided with a smirk, turning to Sakura. 

 

Sakura shrugged. “That’s easy.” She straightened her back a little and cleared her throat, putting her hands on her hips before proclaiming “I’m Naruto Uzumaki and I’m the coolest ever! Dare me to jump off the roof? No? I’m gonna do it anyway, someone catch me at the bottom!” Ino laughed and Sasuke tried not to, most everyone else snickering. 

 

Naruto rolled his eyes but grinned too. “Yeah yeah, whatever. I wouldn’t jump off a roof.” 

 

“What if someone dared you?” Kiba asked. “I mean, you do call yourself the king of dares, right?”

 

The Uzumaki thought it over for a second. “Maybe if it was a short roof.” That sent the group into a fit of laughter. 

 

A few impression-oriented dares later, Naruto was dared to do an impression of Sasuke, to which he happily accepted, though now that he looked at Sasuke he couldn’t really think of anything to exaggerate or make fun of. It was weird, you’d think that spending all that time with him would give Naruto plenty of ammunition, but he couldn’t think of anything. It’s not like he could mimic the way Sasuke holds him or smiles in his special, not smiling way. The blonde continued to stare, causing the other to raise an eyebrow. 

 

“Come on, it’s not that hard.” The Uchiha prompted, hitting him with his shoulder lightly. The two held each other’s gazes for a second. Naruto smirked a little and nodded. 

 

“Okay, got it.” Naruto cleared his throat and sat up to make himself taller, moving some of his hair into his eyes. “I’m Sasuke and I’m too _ cool  _ for Disney and sweets. I’m actually too cool for fun in general and don’t know how to appreciate my boyfriend’s  _ really _ good pick up lines.” 

 

Sasuke rolled his eyes, scoffing lightly. “Implying your pick up lines are good.” He countered a few seconds too quick. Wait, why was everyone so quiet all of a sudden? Sasuke glanced over everyone’s faces with a confused expression before it dawned on him. He looked to Naruto who seemed to be having the same realization. 

 

“Called it.” Temari said in a sing song voice, high fiving Shikamaru who wore a smirk. 

 

“I just assumed it was a one-sided crush Naruto had on Sasuke.” Sakura admitted, looking to Ino who nodded. 

 

“C’mon, like Sasuke would spend so much time with someone he didn’t have a thing for.” Temari interjected. “He was practically a recluse, remember? Why would he spend almost every day with loud, obnoxious Naruto if he didn’t find some of his qualities to be  _ exceedingly _ redeemable?” 

 

“Kind as ever, Temari.” Naruto mumbled sarcastically.

 

“Wait, so am I the only one here who had no idea about any of this?” Kiba asked, looking around. “Choji?” 

 

The boy looked up and shrugged. “Shikamaru pointed it out to me a few weeks ago.” 

 

Kiba heaved a sigh. “Last to know, yet again.” 

 

“Are you never going to drop the freshman year halloween incident?” Shikamaru asked.

 

“You know I’m not!” Kiba proclaimed defensively. 

 

“Technically you guys all found at simultaneously.” Sasuke pointed out. “They had their speculations but you all  _ knew  _ at the same time.” 

 

“That makes it a little better, I guess.” Kiba shrugged. “Anyway, it’s your turn, Naruto, ask someone.” 

 

And so the night continued through several rounds of truth or dare, each round more nonsensical than the last. The only thing that really changed was that now Sasuke was asked questions that could embarrass Naruto and Naruto was asked question that could embarrass Sasuke. By the end of the night, Kiba had gone through a makeover from Ino, Sakura cut a centimeter from her bangs, and it was established that Sasuke liked cuddling a little less than Naruto did. All around, it was a pretty good night. 

 

At around one in the morning, everyone except for Shika and Temari were saying their goodbyes and leaving. Naruto decided to drive this time, letting Sasuke fall asleep in the passenger seat as he made his way home. The Uzumaki rolled down his window and let the cool breeze blow across his skin and through his hair with a small smile. The stars overhead shone brightly on the amazingly clear night, illuminating even when the headlights were off and the car was parked. Before going inside, Naruto made Sasuke stop for a second just so he could admire how pretty the lighting made him. Of course, he looked even prettier in Naruto’s dim bedroom with a spiky hair crown on his pillow. The Uzumaki smiled to himself and pressed a kiss to the other’s cheek before settling against his pillow and falling asleep, thinking about how just a few months ago he was in the opposite situation and how far they’d come since then. He was happy. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Filler chapters for the soul 2k17   
> Anyway, this fic is probably going to end soon. I have most of the end planned out, which is good news! I'm only really planning to write like four more chapters, but don't worry, the ending will be satisfactory. I think. Haven't decided yet.   
> Hope you enjoyed! Thanks for all the comments and support, I really appreciate it. Until next time!


	23. Chapter 23

“Okay, let's try this again.” 

 

Sasuke nodded from the couch, a small smile curving up at Naruto’s excitement as he jumped onto the cushion beside Sasuke. From there, the blonde found the remote and started the movie. This time there was no rain and it was much too hot for blankets or cuddling, but Naruto didn't mind. He held Sasuke’s hand from two feet away and smiled at Sasuke more than he watched the movie- especially since the Uchiha fell asleep within the first twenty minutes and looked like an angel. 

 

Dark invited itself in through the windows and seeped from the ceiling to the floorboards, covering in shades of grey until it was black and all  encompassing . The only light in the room was a neutral blue glow given from the TV, which is what Sasuke woke up to. He looked to the side and his heart immediately dropped, seeing tears rolling down a sobbing Naruto’s cheeks, dropping into the pillow he held at his chest. Sas followed the other's eyesight to the TV and back, scooting closer and running his palm across the Uzumaki’s back. 

 

“Hey,” Sasuke said softly, wrapping his arm around the other’s waist as blonde hair settled against his chest. “What's wrong?” He asked. 

 

Naruto quickly shook his head. “N- Nothing’s wrong,” he said, sniffling a bit. “It's just th-that they  _ found _ her. A-after all that time, they're together again.” Sasuke softened a little as he looked back to the TV, seeing a few blue fish embrace on screen. 

 

“You're such a softie.” Sasuke shook his head lightly and kissed the top of his head. 

 

“Hey!” He called defensively, laughing despite the tears as he quickly wiped his face. “No I'm not, this is just a really good movie. You'd cry if you actually watched it.” 

 

The Uchiha looked from the screen and back to Naruto. “It's… It's about fish, Naruto.” 

“It's about  _ love _ !” He exclaimed. “And  _ family _ !” 

 

“And fish.” 

 

“And fish! But mostly love and family.” He assured, nodding. He sniffled a few more times before taking a deep breath and settling himself for the rest of the movie. After the credits, Naruto didn't make a move to go out on another movie and so the two held each other in the dark. 

 

“Sasuke?” Naruto asked, looking up in the dark even though he couldn't make out a face. 

 

“Yes?” 

 

He hesitated. “Does it make you sad?” 

 

Sasuke furrowed his eyebrows. “Does what make me sad?” 

 

“Y’know… movies that end like that. Everyone always finds their way back.” The Uzumaki elaborated. “It's not like that in real life. Not with us, at least.” He added softly. It took Sasuke a moment to realize he was indirectly talking about his parents. When he noticed, he held Naruto a little tighter, his heart splitting for the other. He considered the question. 

 

“It used to.” He admitted. “Right after it happened I hated those endings.  I hated the people who got those endings.” Dark eyes looked to where he assumed Naruto was. “It got better with time, though. They don't bother me anymore.” 

 

Naruto nodded. Sasuke felt a warm pool collect on his chest. “Do you remember them?” He asked, voice cracking softly. 

 

“Yeah.” He confirmed, rubbing Naruto’s arm. “Fragments of them.” He added. “Do you remember yours?” 

 

The saddest laugh followed. “I wouldn't even know what they looked like if Iruka didn't have a picture.” He mumbled. 

 

“I'm sorry.” And he was. He was sorry that Naruto had to go through this, that he didn't have good memories to look back on and that happy endings made him so sad. 

 

“Who did you like better?” Naruto asked, wiping his face. 

 

“Out of my parents or all of them?” 

 

“Whichever.” 

 

Sasuke thought for a moment. “Itachi, probably. We were the closest.” Naruto shifted a little to get more comfortable, nodding as a way to tell Sasuke to go on. “He was good at everything. All A’s, all the time. Dad's favorite. He’d always make sure I was okay.” Sasuke recalled, picturing his brother in his mind. This time, it didn't leave a bad feeling in his stomach. “He tutored me and always looked out for me. He was the hardest to let go of.” He swallowed. 

 

“He sounds like a great person.” The crying had stopped, Sasuke assumed. Naruto’s voice was clearer now. 

 

“He was.” Sasuke chewed the inside of his lip. “I regret not going to the funeral.” He added, quieter as if it was a glass afterthought, too fragile to be engaged. 

 

After a few seconds of silence, Naruto closed his eyes tight before asking. “Why didn't you go?”, not really knowing what to expect. 

 

“I was convinced he was alive. Out there, just out of my reach.” The Uchiha nodded to himself. “They never found his remains, they were indistinguishable piles of ash, so I wanted to find him. I wanted him to make everything okay, I guess.” It was getting a little hard to talk. 

 

Naruto held Sasuke closer, burying his head in the other's chest. He sensed he'd probably hit a soft spot. “I'm sorry, Sas. We don't have to talk about this anymore if you don't want to.” 

 

Sasuke nodded, letting his head settle on top of Naruto’s. They sat in silence for a few full minutes, both thinking about how to get away from this topic in a smooth manner as to not upset the other further. 

 

“ _ Saaaaasukeeee.”  _ Naruto whispered with the same lilt Sasuke had grown accustomed to. 

 

“Hm?” He couldn't help but smile to himself. He knew Naruto was smiling, too, the room softening it's edges and the dark lightening up a little. 

 

“What did one ocean say to the other?”

 

“What?” 

 

“Nothing, it just waved!” The blonde happily exclaimed as if they hadn't spent the last 10 minutes talking about dead families. 

 

Sas smirked and leaned down to press a kiss to Naruto’s forehead. He moved to lay down, accommodating the sleepy boy on his chest. 

 

“You know what?” The Uchiha asked rhetorically, speaking a little quieter so he wouldn't disturb his boyfriend too much. “Younger me would hate my guts right about now.” 

 

“Why's that?” Naruto asked, voice saturated with concern and sleep. 

 

“Because I got a happy ending.” He stated simply. “I got better. I found you.” Naruto just smiled and hugged tighter, like he was trying meld he and Sasuke’s ribs together  indefinitely . Like he was trying to reform their bodies to fit better together. Like he wanted to physically become a jagged puzzle piece that only clicked in place when against Sasuke. 

 

“I love you, too.” He whispered, placing a kiss over the Uchiha’s heart before settling and being carried off to sleep without protest. Sasuke followed a few minutes after, finding nothing he'd want more than to lay with his sunshine boy as he slowly brought the night to day minute by minute. 


	24. Chapter 24

July 23rd came quickly and without notice. Sasuke woke up around 11 A.M. like always and ticked off the day on his calendar like always. The calendar gave no sign that the day was important and Sasuke never really bothered to look at the dates unless there was writing under them, so he remained completely unaware of his own 18th birthday. The only thing that differentiated today from any other was that Naruto hadn’t stayed the past night so Sasuke woke up alone. He didn’t really know when this alone became enough to make him frown and pushed away the thought pretty quickly, deciding he didn’t want to stay in his empty bed all day.  He planted his feet on the ground and stood, then stretched before picking up his phone from his nightstand and walking through the hallway as he checked his notifications. He had one missed call from Kakashi who never left a voicemail and a few messages from Naruto. This early in the morning, he was much more suited to handling a text instead of a phone call and so that’s what he started with. 

****

**Nart(☀️):** GOOD MORNING

**Nart(☀️):** are you a parking ticket? 

**Nart(☀️):** because you’ve got FINE written all over you!! 

**Nart(☀️):** ha

**Nart(☀️):** answer me when you’re up I have an important thing planned

**Me:** What kind of important thing?

**Nart(☀️):** YOU’RE UP 

**Nart(☀️):** a very important thing

**Nart(☀️):** me and you are going to the park

**Me:** Why the park? Also why is this important, we go places all the time.

**Nart(☀️):** it’s on the list! 

**Nart(☀️):** after this we only have to reattempt the two person truth or dare

**Nart(☀️):** then all the fun stuff is crossed off and we’re done! 

**Me:** If you say so

**Me:** When are you picking me up?

**Nart(☀️):** already on the way xoxo

**Me:** You’re joking 

****

No response, which meant Naruto was most definitely not joking. Sasuke rolled his eyes with a smirk before pocketing his phone and rushing to get ready. The missed call could wait until later, it was probably Kakashi just calling to check in. 

****

Naruto showed up a surprisingly slow thirty minutes later, beaming extra wide for whatever reason. Sasuke was too enamored to complain. 

****

“You got here later than usual.” Sasuke observed, taking Naruto’s hand in his own as they made their way to the Uzumaki’s car. 

****

“I had to drop something off at a friend’s.” Naruto unlocked the car with his clicker and boarded, not caring to elaborate. Sasuke didn’t really care, he had no reason to distrust Naruto, so he accepted his answer with a nod and watched out the window as Naruto drove. Clouds passed overhead and Naruto put on a beautiful rendition of anything that came on, filling the car with laughter and offkey screeches. All was good. 

****

Thankfully, enough trees had been planted around the park so that shade was plentiful and it wasn’t too unbearable to walk the trail around the park, which is what the two ended up doing. They stayed at this for a while, walking around in comfortable silence, swinging their clasped hands in the wind as they went. Occasionally Naruto would stop to pet a dog and occasionally Sasuke would be made to take a picture of Naruto with the stranger dogs, but Sasuke didn’t mind and Naruto loved it. In fact, they could’ve spent the whole day there, laughing and pointing out shapes in the clouds until they were mute and blind, but as the day progressed and the shade weakened, it got too hot to stay out there without the very serious risk of melting into a puddle right there on the sidewalk, so they had to leave. 

****

Once back in Naruto’s car with the air conditioning on the highest possible setting, Sasuke sat with his face forward, centimeters away from the frosty air so he could cool off faster. Naruto swiftly copied the idea. After a few minutes of cooling off, the two decided that slushies would probably be the best thing in their current situation, so that’s where Naruto started for after pulling out of the park. 

******  
  
**

“Hey, Sasuke, truth or dare?” The question was asked from only a foot away, Naruto in the driver’s seat happily sucking up his abomination slushie. 

****

“I thought we were saving that for later.” Sas didn’t really care either way, but it was weird of Naruto to break the unspoken schedule. 

****

“Might as well just get it out of the way.” The Uzumaki shrugged, trying to pretend he had no ulterior motives. Really, he just hadn’t gotten the OK text from Kakashi yet, so he was stalling. 

****

Sasuke stared for a second before nodding. “Fair enough. Truth.” 

****

“Okay, I truth you t-” 

****

“You _ know  _ that’s not how it goes.” 

****

“Shush, word police. I truth you to tell me your least favorite color.” 

****

“I don’t know, neon anything, probably.” He shrugged. “Truth or dare? Even though I’m already sur-” 

****

“Dare!” Naruto nodded solemnly as if his choice wasn’t written across his forehead. Just then, Naruto’s phone vibrated from his lap. The screen showed it was Kakashi. Everything was ready. “Actually, truth. Dares take too long, we have to get back home soon.” He sat up in his seat, fitting his slushie back into the cup holder before checking his mirrors and heading home with a slowly growing grin. 

****

Sasuke looked a little confused. “What’s the rush?” He asked, raising an eyebrow. 

****

“It’s a secret.” He answered in a sing song voice, almost giggling to himself. Sasuke still hadn’t noticed. Turns out he’s a much better distraction than Kakashi thought he would be. 

****

“You said truth.” Sasuke pointed out. “There are no secrets in truths.” 

****

He had a point, but there was no way Naruto was giving it away this late in the game. They were only a few minutes from Sasuke’s, after all. “Sorry, Sas. Can’t tell. You can dare me if you want.” He offered. 

****

“Alright.” Now the Uchiha was really curious. “I dare you to tell me what’s going on here.” 

****

Naruto just laughed, shaking his head as he pulled into Sasuke’s yard. He was practically vibrating with excitement. Once he was parked, Naruto turned to his boyfriend with a big smile. “Sasuke, what day is today?” He asked. 

****

The other blinked, shaking his head lightly before fishing his phone out of his pocket. He checked the date. “It’s the 23rd of Jul- hey, w-” 

****

“Happy birthday!” Naruto shouted, practically jumping up and down in his seat. He quickly reached behind Sasuke’s seat and took a folded piece of orange construction paper out of the pouch, proudly handing it to Sasuke, who was now a little pink. How did he not notice his own birthday? 

****

The orange construction paper turned out to be a card, the front saying “HAPPY BIRTHDAY! I LOVE YOU!” in big, blue caps lock. Sasuke couldn’t help but smile. On the inside, smiley face stickers and blue balloon drawings framed a note on one side and a cartoon-y drawing of Naruto and Sasuke decorated the other side. The note was a little hard to read thanks to Naruto’s handwriting, but Sasuke got through it with only a little difficulty. He looked up to Naruto’s sunshine smile with so much love and care it could rival lava’s warmth. The Uchiha made a move to capture the other’s lips in his own but Naruto stopped him.

****

“Wait, wait, you haven’t seen the best part yet! Turn to the back.” The other instructed, his cheeks hurting from smiling so much but it’s not like he could stop. 

****

Sasuke listened and closed the card, flipping it onto the back, which had just a circle drawn on it. Naruto’s smile spread to Sasuke, the teen looking up again and rolling his eyes. “It’s beautiful. I love it.” This time, the Uzumaki didn’t dodge Sasuke’s kiss. The only thing that interrupted them was a phone call, one to Sasuke’s phone. The Uchiha answered even though he didn’t really want to.

****

“You lovebirds coming inside yet or what?” It was Kakashi who called but Sasuke could hear smug laughter in the background that was probably Iruka’s. “We didn’t plan a surprise party just so you can kiss your boyfriend in his car.” Sasuke shook his head with a smirk and just hung up, heading inside with Naruto soon after. It had been years since a group of people sang that annoying song with Sasuke’s name. He forgot how much he hated it, but somehow, today, it felt alright. 


	25. Chapter 25

_ Weekend Interlude #2 _

 

Saturdays are made for sleeping in and staying up for as long as you want with your friends. Saturdays are lay around and dream a little longer about running and the color purple days. Saturdays are easy and welcomed wholeheartedly, like a tired kiss on the forehead and extended sleepovers.

 

Until they weren’t. 

 

This Saturday was nowhere near as relaxing as an ocean documentary or a trip to the local art museum, nor was it as exciting as a bonfire or a party which, no, are definitely not the same thing.  In fact, this Saturday was hectic and tiring and exceptionally draining- so, basically, this Saturday was a Monday- but it had to happen. It’s not like they had much time left. So, they started early this Saturday, Sasuke, Naruto, Iruka, and Kakashi all crawled out of bed at the ungodly hour of 6am and began to put boxes in trunks and seats and wherever there was available room until there were no more boxes and no more available room. At around 7, everyone climbed into their respective vehicles and headed out, bound for a new town, a new city, a new chapter of their lives. As they left, Naruto couldn’t help but get a little sentimental watching the streets he grew up on fade from view in the rearview mirror. Sasuke couldn’t conjure up such feelings considering he’d only lived in that town for a semester and a summer, but he didn’t have to share the sentiment to feel the odd sense of finality. Summer was over.  _ Their _ summer was over. 

 

Now, onto the next chapter. 

 

The trip wasn’t too excruciatingly long or English class level boring, but it still wasn’t particularly enjoyable. Everyone was glad when it was over, stretching their sore muscles and tired bones in the apartment complex parking lot, the faint sun just warm enough to defrost the morning dew and reflect half-heartedly off of the windows. 

 

While Kakashi made a quick snack run to the closest convenience store, the remaining three started unloading boxes, though Sasuke did most of the work thanks to an old picture album Naruto and Iruka decided to go through in what would become the kitchen’s floor. Hell, even their new, eyebrowless ginger neighbor helped more than those two. He selflessly brought up a box on his way up, and he wasn’t even going to live there. Sasuke let the two have their moment, though. It’s better to get the crying out early so Sasuke wouldn’t have to hear it tonight when he’s trying to sleep. 

 

At around 10, Kakashi made it back with chips and sodas and an everything slushie, prompting a welcome break as the four sat in what would be the living room floor talking about what to expect in college and adult life with a healthy amount of reminiscing on the soft memories of childhood and the awkward memories of junior high and anything else that came up. It was already 11 when the conversation lulled to an end, meaning it would be noon in no time. They tried to get all the boxes inside before the afternoon heat set in and failed only by a little bit, actually getting everything inside and unpacked at around 1. No one really complained much, though. No one really could thanks to Naruto’s blasting of early 2000’s pop music and impromptu karaoke that filled the space as they found places for everything and set up the furniture. When that was almost done, Naruto and Iruka left to grocery shop for the basics (multiple cases of instant ramen noodles) while Kakashi and Sasuke stayed behind and put the finishing touches on everything. 

 

“You’re still sure about this, right, Sasuke?” Kakashi asked from across the living room, hanging up a framed drawing of a circle he didn’t really understand but didn’t question. “It’s further from your campus than ideal. It’s almost an hour long drive you’re going to have to make every morning.” 

 

“It won’t be too bad.” Sasuke shrugged, not turning his attention away from the cable box he was trying to set up. “I can handle it.” 

 

Kakashi nodded and glanced back with a slight smile. “I know you can.” He assured, stepping back from the frame and admiring his handiwork. He then turned around, crossing his arms as he leaned back on the wall next to the framed drawing, fondly looking to the Uchiha who was still consumed with his mission to set up the cable. “They’d be so proud of you.” The older man said softly as he passed by Sasuke, ruffling his hair on the way to one of the boxes left alone in the far corner. Sasuke paused for a moment before swallowing and nodding softly to himself. He knew they would be. And more importantly, he knew he himself was, too. He had everything he ever dreamed of, all starting up and taking off so quickly. He was ready for the next chapter of his life with Naruto, and when you pushed all the nervousness and doubt, he was happier than he’d ever been. 

 

Iruka and Naruto made it back a little while after everything was settled into place and put all the groceries away. The four spent the rest of the day making last minute runs to wherever for whatever they could’ve forgotten and readjusting what was already set. By the time 6 rolled around, everything was perfect and it was getting kinda dark, so they all climbed the stair down together and stood on the pavement, hugging and crying and giving last goodbyes. 

 

“You take care of him now, Naruto.” Kakashi called from the driver’s seat, already pulling out of the spot so he could leave before he started crying. “God knows, if anyone can do it, you can.” He added before giving a quick wave and driving off, taking the lasts, frail wisps of summer with him, caught up in his tail lights. 

 

Naruto wrapped his arm around Sasuke’s waist and rested his head against the other’s shoulder, looking up to his softly illuminated face as he looked down on Naruto’s sunshine-y, smiley one. They stayed like that for a while, just admiring the art that was each other. 

 

“Hey, are you tired?” Naruto asked rather unexpectedly, looking up with one of his trademark lopsided grins.

 

“A little, yes. You know, carrying boxes and every-” 

 

Naruto nudged him softly with his elbow, rolling his eyes. “It’s a pick up line! C’mon, Sas.” Sasuke huffed in mock annoyance but smiled in his Sasuke, not actually smiling way and gestured for him to get it over with. 

 

“Okay, are you tired?” 

 

“Why would I be tired, my dear Naruto?” 

 

“‘Cause you’ve been running through my head all day!” 

 

The Uchiha rolled his eyes and pecked his boyfriend on the forehead before turning, the two separating for a second to rejoin at the hands, their hands sliding into place out of habit and necessity as they walked back up to their room for the night. 

\- - -

_ Naruto Uzumaki had never been the nervous type. Not Naruto, never Naruto. We’re talking about the man who shamelessly sings bad pop songs at the top of his lungs and takes every single dare sent his way in a heartbeat. We’re talking about the boy who hit on an intimidating stranger knowing that it was very possible he'd get some sort of injury from it and continued to hit on the stranger until he wasn't a stranger. We’re talking about the boy who got a three day suspension for doing backflips in the chemistry lab... twice.  _

_ Naruto was not nervous. Not anxious. Not timid. Not shy.  _

  
_ And tonight, the beginning of the rest of his life with the person he loved most in the world, his soulmate, the moon to his sun, he had no reason to be.  _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> aaaaaaand roll credits! The end! Thank you all so much for reading and commenting and enjoying. I loved every interaction I had with you guys and look forward to the next ones. 
> 
> Until next time!


End file.
